“Every year, 100,000 people are killed by emergencies and a further 200 million people are affected or displaced as a result of these natural disasters. Many of these disasters happen in areas which aren’t on the map. So if we don’t know these communities exist, how can we help them?”
So says Julie Milnes, Head of Corporate Partnerships at British Red Cross. And it’s this challenge that has been the trigger for a three-year partnership with insurance group Aviva, to help communities around the world prepare for and respond to disasters.
A collaboration with several other disaster relief organisations, the Missing Maps Project gives volunteers across the world the tools to create maps that could help people survive and recover from crisis.
In 2016, 1,000 Aviva employees across 13 markets volunteered in the 2016 Aviva Global Mapathon. They mapped 126,000 buildings and 18,000kms of road in some of the most vulnerable communities in the world, including Haiti.
As a partner of the Disaster Relief Alliance, Aviva also helped the Red Cross respond to crises around the world, including a cyclone in Bangladesh, Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and an earthquake in Italy.
More directly linked to its UK-centric customer base, in 2015 Aviva supported the launch of the British Red Cross emergency response app. The free app provides live alerts and advice if there is a risk of severe weather or other emergencies.
Read more: Aviva website
