In 2021, the tireless work of Inmarsat-sponsored Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) continued regardless of the ongoing difficulties related to COVID-19.

In the 12 month-period, more than 600,000 people around the world were supported by the emergency telecoms agency, which is often the first on the ground when disaster strikes. Of this number some 443,000 people were assisted by TSF during humanitarian crises, of which 97% said that its assistance had a positive impact on their lives.

As well as providing access to critical satellite communications in the aftermath of natural disasters, TSF also works with disaster prone regions to provide training and emergency telecommunications kits; provides access to information screens to support migrants and refugees; enables students to access computers and training in under-served communities.

Jean-François Cazenave, President of TSF comments: “2021 was not just one year more. It was the year when thousands of people lost at best their homes and their environment, and at worst, sadly, loved ones in the floods in Western Europe or the earthquake in Haiti. The year in which people from Latin America, Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Asia chose to risk their lives for their families, by embarking on a dangerous and difficult migratory journey. It was a year in which thousands of families struggled for a decent life, access to medical care or the reconstruction of their homes in Syria or Lebanon.

“While we can be proud of this shared achievement, we must also continue our commitment at the heart of humanitarian crises to ensure that connectivity and access to information help those who have lost everything, or have nothing left to lose, regain hope.”