Guatemala’s mobile industry acts on pledge to We Care campaign

TIGO, TELEFÓNICA and CLARO are advancing in disaster preparedness and response in cooperation with the Guatemalan Red Cross.

The Guatemalan Red Cross ran an Incident Command System course on 12 and 13 April for mobile operators Tigo, Telefónica and Claro to coordinate strategy under the National Response Plan defined by the country’s MNOs. The action complies with the requirements of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), which is responsible for corrective and preventive actions across the country, and will allow faster and more effective response in emergency situations and natural disasters.

This activity is part of the “We Care Guatemala” campaign, launched in October 2016 in Guatemala City. Through this initiative, Guatemala’s mobile industry signed the Humanitarian Connectivity Charter and a cooperation agreement with the GSMA, the Guatemalan Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to work together by making telecommunications services available for disaster preparedness and response.

The GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter outlines shared principles of commitment and a series of collaborative actions, including:

  • To enhance coordination within and among mobile network operators before, during and after a disaster
  • To scale and standardise preparedness and response activities across the industry to enable a more predictable response; and
  • To strengthen partnerships between the Mobile Industry, Government and the Humanitarian sector

Guatemala is one of the few countries where three tectonic plates converge. It is also home to 288 volcanoes and structures of volcanic origin, eight of which register activity. The country is highly prone to the impact of weather phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, which can have humanitarian consequences across the country. Collaboration between operators and the Guatemalan Red Cross is essential to maximise the potential of mobile technology in hazardous situations.

Underscoring the mobile industry commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the GSMA We Care campaign is an initiative of the region’s leading mobile operators to ensure all their users can enjoy the life-changing benefits of mobile technology in a safe and secure environment. To achieve this, operators have decided to join forces as an industry and take on a series of commitments in every country in the region where mobile phones and networks can provide solutions to social problems. The initiative has been launched in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and the Dominican Republic, and will continue to expand across the region.