U.N. Teams With Google Earth To Track Refugees

U.N. Teams With Google Earth To Track Refugees, Educate Public

By Mike Musgrove

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 12, 2008; Page D02

Can Google Earth save the world?

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees announced a new partnership with the search engine this week. The goal: To use Google's globe-mapping software to illustrate the plight of parts of the planet's population.

Google Earth, a free, virtual-globe program from the search engine company, lets users zoom in on locations around the planet. Users can also use special programs known as layers, which organizations can build to incorporate video, text or other interactive features.

Under an outreach program, Google has been populating its virtual globe with socially minded projects from such organizations as Greenpeace, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and UNICEF. Six such layers have been launched in the past two weeks.

Click on the United Nations' "visit a camp" button in Google Earth, for example, and an online depiction of the globe spins and zeroes in on a satellite view of a refugee camp in Chad. There, visitors learn about the refugees who have fled to that country from western Sudan's Darfur region. Click on a button and users can find out how much money it costs to install, say, a new water source at the camp. Click again and users can donate that amount.

"The great thing about Google Earth is it gives you that ability to be there," said Tim Irwin, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee organization. "We're hoping to take something that might be a little abstract for some people and make it very real."

Rebecca Moore, manager of Google Earth Outreach, said she is hoping the software can be used by organizations on a larger scale. "This sort of immersive experience can lead to greater understanding, greater compassion and a desire to help," she said.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum launched "World is Witness," a layer that traces a recent trip to Rwanda to learn about the 1994 genocide there.

Last year, the museum was the first nonprofit organization to launch a Google Earth layer. The museum credited the program for increasing traffic to its "How can I help" page from 2,500 visitors a month to more than 50,000.

"It has been hugely helpful in terms of our outreach efforts," said John Heffernan, director of the museum's Genocide Prevention Initiative.

Google地球也能扮演拯救世界的角色？聯合國難民事務高級專員公署本周宣布與Google地球的合作計畫，由Google地球利用他們的地球製圖軟體，提供有關全球難民處境的資訊。

華盛頓郵報報導，到Google地球中點按聯合國（United Nations），再點按「參觀難民營」（visit a camp），即可看到在查德一個難民營的衛星圖像。參觀者可藉由圖像，了解從蘇丹達富爾地區逃到這個難民營中難民的情形。再點按後，使用者可看到花多少錢 可替難民營裝設一個新水源的資料。再點按，使用者還可捐錢做這件善事。

難民公署的發言人厄文說：「最棒的是，Google地球讓你有能力到達該處。一些原本極其抽象的事物變得非常真實。」Google地球擴大服務部的經理蕾貝卡‧摩爾也希望各種組織大舉使用他們的軟體，教育更多的大眾，協助他們產生助人的熱忱。

Google地球同時與綠色和平、美國大屠殺紀念博物館、聯合國兒童基金會合作，提供特定的資訊與圖解。大屠殺紀念博物館與Google地球合作的「世界 見證」（World is Witness），最近作了盧安達探索，可協助使用者了解1994年當地種族屠殺的種種。