Geographic information system & mapping
By presenting the geographic information system (GIS) activities in a separate section, the impression may be raised that they comprise a separate set of activities. In fact, GIS is a management and planning tool that cross-cuts the activities in the 2006-2007 ADB-UNESCO project "HIV/AIDS Vulnerability and Risk Reduction among Ethnic Minority Groups through Communication Strategies in the Greater Mekong Subregion", mainly by linking existing data sources.
GIS encompasses several steps that can be grouped into three broad functions: database management; mapping and image processing; and spatial and statistical analysis. It relies on computer-based technology to produce, organize and analyze different layers of spatial and descriptive information in the form of maps. This enables an enhanced understanding of often complex interlinked issues by visually relating them to their geographical locations and their development over time.
UNESCO leads the way
UNESCO is the lead agency for GIS within the UN system. UNESCO Bangkok uses GIS as a strategic and information management tool in much of its programming, including on HIV/AIDS, trafficking, migration and ethnic minorities. In order to better inform intervention programs and assess their effectiveness, UNESCO Bangkok initiated the Social Sentinel Surveillance Project.
This project is a GIS-linked system connecting databases with information related to the trade in girls and women from the upper Mekong subregion into Thailand, rates of HIV/AIDS incidence, interventions and their coverage, location of hill tribe villages, and the distribution of at-risk populations (i.e. migrating or interstitial populations, and population in sex work), so that different trends may be discovered, recorded and mapped.
UNESCO's work on GIS, in collaboration with its partners, follows an established UNESCO GIS methodology adapted to the demands of collecting data on these complex issues in some of the hardest-to-reach areas in the GMS:
- Data collection (Geo database + Attribute data)
- Data audit
- Data cleaning
- Database management
- Map production (depending on the available data)
- Analysis
- Dissemination of results via website, CD distributions and publications
As part of its collaboration with the ADB since 2003, the UNESCO Bangkok GIS Unit has produced the only accurate, sophisticated, and up-to-date and high-specificity maps of HIV/AIDS distribution for Thailand. Under the 2006-2007 project, the GIS Team continued to maintain and improve the GIS database by furthering the statistical and spatial analysis of data collected. In this project, UNESCO also expanded its GIS activities to include HIV/AIDS vulnerability mapping for Lao PDR and Cambodia. GIS mapping under this project included a GMS language mapping, and migration, ethnic and citizenship mapping as well as updating of existing maps, including maps on HIV/AIDS prevalence and sex services.
A core component of this effort was to further develop the collaboration with TPSO-10. Project activities included the organization of refresher and advanced GIS training for GIS core staff. This included the organization of a training workshop for TPSO-10 ground survey teams to verify highland village locations, and the training of additional administrative-level staff and representatives from TPSO-10 offices in 7 provinces in basic GIS knowledge. A GIS unit was established to generate data for the remaining area of zone 10.
To support GIS activities in other TPSO's, UNESCO and its partners developed a GIS network structure, and designed a technology platform, database and geo-coding system to verify and update hill-tribe locations in an additional 19 provinces. A highland centre and network was established to undertake and coordinate the data collection on highland village demographics and locations, and to develop a standardized geocoding system for hill-tribe and ethnic minority villages in 20 northern Thai provinces for use by relevant government agencies.
The UNESCO Bangkok GIS Unit also expanded its work in connecting existing and establishing new databases with information related to HIV/AIDS incidence, interventions and their coverage, and risk population distribution to discover different trends. As UNESCO's work on GIS in the GMS is expanding, local capacity-building for GIS has become increasingly more important and was a key activity in the 2006-2007 project. Developing localized versions of GIS software and undertaking capacity building for the appropriate use of GIS and its outputs, is essential for the integration of local GIS into regional database systems.
For more information on UNESCO Bangkok's GIS-Linked Social Sentinel Surveillance Project, click here. The UNESCO GIS maps and animated maps can be accessed through this link or the resources section of this project web site.
