Public-private partnerships (PPP) have become a popular way for international organizations and governments to engage private actors in the delivery of ICT infrastructure and services with the aim of increasing ICT disaster resilience in all countries. Governments, civil society, media, and the telecommunications private sector have roles to play in ensuring that a culture of disaster management and risk reduction facilitates the public and private sector decision-making. This can only be achieved by gathering efforts from all the parties involved in this process in order to reach common goals such as using ICTs to save lives when disasters strike.
As part of ITU's continued work on disaster management, ITU supports its Membership in all phases of disaster management. When disasters strike, and upon request by Member States, ITU deploys satellite telephones and terminals as well as other emergency telecommunications equipment to affected countries within the first 24 to 48 hours. This equipment helps restore vital communication links and is critical for coordination of disaster response activities within the government and humanitarian agencies involved in rescue and relief operations.
ITU's work is supported by a number of satellite operators, such as Iridium, Inmarsat, and Thuraya, and is an active member of the Emergency Telecommunication Cluster (ETC) and the Crisis Connectivity Charter.
The ETC, led by the World Food Programme (WFP), is a global network of humanitarian agencies, government, and private sector organizations that work together to provide shared communication services in the most challenging emergency situations.
The Crisis Connectivity Charter is a mechanism created between the satellite industry and the wider humanitarian community to make satellite-based communications more readily available to humanitarians and affected communities, as well as government entities in times of disasters.