Kosovo Humanitarian Community Information Center: Geographic Information System

[From Kosovo Humanitarian Update Issue No. 17]
By Kathleen Miner
In this issue, the Kosovo Humanitarian Update focuses on the Humanitarian Community Information Center’s GIS Unit and on some of the services that it provides to support the humanitarian effort in the region.

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Visitors to the Humanitarian Community Information Center in Pristina may not be aware that the center houses a GIS unit, or how it can support organizations working in Kosovo. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept of GIS, a brief explanation is in order.

A Geographic Information System includes data, people, and computers. The computer system is one that allows the user to manipulate spatially identified data. The primary purpose of a GIS is to relate data from various sources in order to analyze the combined data. Virtually any information that can be assigned locational coordinates can be fed into a GIS.

A classic example of GIS used for humanitarian purposes is in the field of demining. A GIS is used to maintain and update records of mined areas and cleared areas. As an example, KFOR may supply the first “layer” of data showing the overall areas where mines or UXOs exist. UNICEF provides a second set of data with school locations. When the two sets of data are combined and a buffer zone is created around the school, an initial area for demining emerges. Add a third set of data representing foot paths used by children on their way to school, and the resulting intersection of areas represents the priority demining area for this school. Maps of priority areas are distributed to demining agencies to assist in their work.

The HCIC GIS is currently working with CIMIK/ MNB Central to develop maps for an exercise in locating possible gaps in aid to damaged communities. CIMIK requested data to input into their database to locate possible gaps in aid. By combining data for food, fuel, and shelter distribution, CIMIK was able to determine which villages were not receiving aid. The data was put into the HCIC GIS and the "no aid" villages were separated into villages with shelter damage and villages without shelter damage. CIMIK proposes to visit the target villages to "ground truth" the data. Ground truthing will determine what is actually happening in the villages. Were the villages abandoned? Do the villages need to be provided with aid? Is there aid in the village that has not been reported? Information from the ground truthing exercise will be returned to HCIC to update the database.

None of the work being done by the HCIC GIS would be possible without the data collected by organizations working in the field. Equally important is a means of linking the data from various organizations. In Kosovo there is duplication in village names and various spellings of village names in both Serbian and Albanian. Sharing data between organizations becomes quite impossible if the two organizations use different names or different spellings when referring to the same village. In Kosovo, this problem is resolved through the use of "pcodes". Villages are assigned a unique code that identifies the village. The first two digits of the code are a municipality code; the last three digits are assigned sequentially based on the number of villages in the municipality. Using pcodes allows all villages to be uniquely identified and the pcodes become a common platform for linking of multiple data sets. In addition to linking data, pcodes have a coordinate value that allows them to be mapped. By using pcodes in a GIS it is possible to integrate and map information that would otherwise be difficult to associate.

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Kathleen Miner is the Data Coordinator at the Humanitarian Community Information Center in Pristina.

The HCIC GIS cooperates closely with the UNHCR GIS and other organizations with GIS capability. If you are interested in learning more about pcodes, data sharing, or ways GIS can assist in humanitarian or reconstruction efforts, please contact the HCIC.

Please note the following contact information for the Humanitarian Community Information Center (HCIC) in Pristina:

Telephone/Fax: + 381 (38) 501 507 or 549 168/69
Email: yughcic@unhcr.ch