Online volunteer coordination: the Ebola emergency

The 2014-2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak devastated West Africa. As of 1 July 2015, 27,524 cases and 11,228 deaths had been recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Responders were tested by the scale of the emergency, the urban setting and underresourced national infrastructures. The speed of sharing data and information was recognized as key in containing the spread of the disease. The crisis also demonstrated the importance of partnering with non-traditional actors and embracing innovative methods to collect data, such as crowdsourcing and online coordination. A group of online volunteers, led by the Standby Task Force (SBTF), compiled information on health-care facilities. The information was then mapped out with the support of OCHA and UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) and released to relevant responders.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development