Humanitarian information service launched by UN

A Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) for relief workers in Liberia has been set up by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)in the capital Monrovia. It is intended to act as a central location for data and information resources, with the aim of improving the co-ordination of humanitarian responses to the crisis. Located at the offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)in the Mamba Point diplomatic district, the Liberia HIC provides free Internet access to relief workers and maintains a web-based “Help Desk” service offering practical information and advice on the Liberian crisis. “Many non-governmental organisations have a real problem with internet access in Liberia,” Bill Bell, the acting Manager told IRIN on Monday. The HIC provides contact lists and specialist maps, details of planned meetings and technical advice to help relief ortanisations manage data and information more effectively. OCHA operates the Liberia HIC in coordination with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Joint Logistics Cell, the Department for Peacekeeping Operations, the UK Department For International Development, USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Aid Workers Network. Similar information centers have been set up in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Sierra Leone.