MoU signed for establishment of Regional Support Office for UN-SPIDER in Cyprus

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a Regional Support Office (RSO) of UNOOSA’s programme ‘United Nations Platform for Space-Based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER)’ in Cyprus.

According to a press release issued by the Center of Excellence, UN-SPIDER RSOs are regional or national centres of expertise that collaborate with UN-SPIDER on its technical advisory support, capacity building and outreach to leverage space for disaster risk reduction in their region or country. The network allows UN-SPIDER to take advantage of the significant experience and capabilities offered by Member States to promote the use of space tools for disaster risk reduction all over the world.

It is added that the new RSO will be located at the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence (CoE). ERATOSTHENES CoE is responsible for scientific research on advancing satellite and airborne remote sensing applications for a variety of uses, including environmental and man-made disasters. Its addition adds significant expertise on satellite technology to the UN-SPIDER network, and especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa region.

Through the MoU, UNOOSA and ERATOSTHENES CoE will work together in areas including emergency response, disaster risk reduction and management, capacity-building on space-based technologies for disaster management, technical advisory support, and the dissemination of methods and results from Earth Observation. The agreement is effective from 17 February 2025 for a period of 3 years.

Dr Marios Tzouvaras, Research Coordinator of the ERATOSTHENES CoE and Coordinator of the newly established UN-SPIDER Cyprus Regional Support Office, said that “this is a great opportunity for the ERATOSTHENES CoE to make its long-term research scientific knowledge available to support emergency response, disaster risk reduction and management efforts when needed." 

He said that Earth Observation and the analysis of complex satellite imagery from a variety of sensors provide substantial benefits in risk reduction from various disasters, such as earthquakes, landslides, coastal/soil erosion, forest fires, floods, drought, etc. 

"We wish our Centre and UNOOSA a fruitful collaboration on all aspects in this very important field not only for Cyprus but also for the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa region,” he noted.

(Source: CNA)