UNOPS and GIS
Meeting on Cartography and Geographic
Information Science
UN Headquarters, New York
28-30 March 2000
ISSUES




UNOPS: What it is, what it does, how it operates
and in which limits.
UNOPS track record in outsourcing GIS works
and services
Subscribing a UN inter-agency approach for the
development of GIS capabilities
United Nations Geographic Database:
– What we expect?
– What we can offer?
UNOPS in 10 points (I)
 “Separate
entity”, by GA Resolution, not the
result of a merger or a new agency
 Purpose: project management as a general
contractor, no sector mandate
 Open to UN system as a whole, no programs
of its own, no constituency
 Handling of clients’ funds, no ownership of
project funds, no “funding activities”
UNOPS in 10 points (II)
 Has
to compete for business, no captive
market
 Entirely self-financing, no contributions or
subventions
 While establishing separate budgets,
approved amounts are technically “extrabudgetary”, not a “license to spend”
UNOPS in 10 points (III)
 Is
obliged to develop and adjust a
procurement regime dedicated to UNOPS,
not identical to that of the UN
 Provides services based on project approach,
not only development projects
 Has to be competitive as compared to private
sector, but must respect values of UN Charter
in conducting its business
GIS at the service of our UN Clients
UNOPS CLIENTS
RS/GIS activities
involving support by
UNOPS
Field of activities where RS/GIS apply
UNDP
Yes, on going
Regional development planning, territorial
management
IFAD
Yes
Natural resources mapping, rural development
planning
UNDCP
Yes
RS/GIS-based illicit crop monitoring systems,
alternative local development planning
UNRISD
No
UNHCR
No
War-Torn-Societies Project (institutional
mapping, project tracking)
Refugee camps and Resettlement planning and
monitoring
OHCHR
No
Logistical support to Human Rights Monitoring
Mission planning and monitoring
UN/DPKO
Yes
Peace Keeping, Mine Action
UN/DPA
No
Planning and Monitoring in the framework of
Electoral Assistance
UNOCHA/IDNDR
No
Disaster Mapping, Relief Planning and
Territorial Planning for Disaster Prevention
Office of the Iraq Programme
Yes
Humanitarian Assistance, De-mining
ILO
Not yet
UNITAR
Yes
Post-crisis recovery and Local economic
development
Training in NCIT (GIS/WEB), applied research
for training
Main thematic areas of UNOPS in or
outsourcing GIS-related
equipment, data, works and services







Post-natural disaster recovery (P,M&E)
Post-conflict rehabilitation (including mine action)
Alternative development
Local development planning and implementation
Logistical support to elections’ planning and monitoring
Historical clarification commissions
Building local capacities in NICT for sustainable development
UNOPS GIS STRATEGY:
Many entry points towards the
same standard mainstream






Remote Sensing data procurement (RSD)
Pre-GIS integration processing services (PGIS)
GIS integration services (GIS)
Hardware/software procurement (HSP)
Web design and integration services (WDI)
Local staff organization, training and
technical backstopping services (TAT)
Building partnerships first within
the United Nations’ family
UNOPS RESS partners in GIS so far

UNHCR (IMG)
UNEP GRID Sioux Falls, USA
UNEP GRID Geneva
OCHA (IDNDR/ISDR)
WHO
UNITAR
WFP

EDC, SPOT, CNES, ESA, Eurimage






Negotiating partnerships with private sector
and local research institutes to make our
strategy efficient and cost-effective
UNOPS-SPOT Agreement (1)
 Pre-GIS
Integration
Selection of sources of remote sensing
data
 Satellite programming
 Procurement of raw data
 Geometric rectification
 Radiometric enhancement
 Mosaic making

UNOPS-SPOT Agreement (2)
 GIS
Integration
GIS integration of processed images
 GIS integration of digital elevation models
(DEM)
 Production of DEM-derived mapping
layers and GIS integration
 Multi-date analysis and GIS integration
 Thematic interpretation and GIS
integration

UNOPS-SPOT Agreement (3)
 Support
for territorial planning and
management
3-D displaying
 Prospective territorial analysis
 Territorial modeling and design
 Territorial management monitoring
 Territorial management evaluation

Example 1: PostMitch Project in
Central America
From supporting
ESA
CNES
SPOT Image
Mitch Project
Toward an inter-agency
rehabilitation programme
Example 2:
The ATLAS of Bosnia Communities for
decentralized cooperation
An Innovative
Tool
That Helps
Manage
Cooperation for
Human
Development
At Local Level
Example 3: Planning Regional (alternative)
Development in Lebanon
Supporting the emergence of a
strategic development vision
in Baalbeck and Hermel
Local planning activities September 1999
First Regional workshop - Baalbeck 22-23 Sept.
Micro regional workshop Shmistar-Bednayel 24 Sept
Micro regional workshop Baalbeck-Majdaloun 25 Sept
Training course on RS,Dbase and GIS for :
* Regional Technical Unit 21-25 Sept
* Micro regional Technical Units 27-30 Sept
REGIONAL WORKSHOP IN BA’ALBECK
(22-23 SEPTEMBER 1999)
Presentation
Working Group
Restitution
Discussion
STATUS
VISION
Agriculture And Natural Resources
Urban Planning And Management
Territorial Networks
Education And Employment
Health And Quality Of Life
Tourism, Culture, Nature
REGIONAL TECHNICAL UNIT
Databases maintenance
Information sharing
Map production
Training and backstopping
URL:www.unitar.org/unops/baalbek-hermel
What are we expecting from
UNITED NATIONS GEOGRAPHIC
DATABASE?

ON-LINE ACCESS to GLOBAL COVERAGE of
BASIC VECTOR LAYERS [higher quality than commercial]






50 m topography and basic hydrologic network
Administrative divisions down to commune/municipality
level (local)
Main road network (by category 3 classes minimum)
Ranked human settlements system (+ 50,000 inhabitants)
Basic socio-economic (poverty maps, HDI maps, etc…)
DIGITAL LIBRARY (images and raster maps)


pre-operational scaling: 1:500,000 to 1:50,000
5 days e-delivery at reproduction cost
WE CAN OFFER...


OUR CORPORATE EXPERIENCE IN
OUTSOURCING REMOTE-SENSING AND
GIS SERVICES IN A TRANSPARENT
MANNER
THE RESOURCE OF THE GENEVA-BASED
UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY RS/GIS
CONSORCIUM FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
WORKING TOWARDS A MORE
RESPONSIVE AND EFFICIENT
UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM AS
EVER
Thank You
For Your Attention!
Further contact
Alain RETIERE
Rehabilitation Advisor
(GIS Coordinator for UNOPS)
UNOPS Office in Geneva
11-13 Chemin des Anemones
1219
Geneva Chatelaine
Switzerland
Tel: (41) 22 917 85 17 - Fax: (41) 22 917 80 62
AlainR@unops.org