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Background Information and Vision 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the international community “to assist all Sudanese towards greater stability and development” during and beyond this period of transition.

South Sudan is a large but under-mapped region, and there are very few high-quality maps that display essential features like roads, hospitals and schools. Up-to-date maps are particularly important to humanitarian aid groups, as they help responders target their efforts and mobilize their resources of equipment, personnel and supplies. More generally, maps are an important foundation for the development of the infrastructure and economy of the country and region.

The Map Maker community—a wide-ranging group of volunteers that help build more comprehensive maps of the world using our online mapping tool, Google Map Maker—has been contributing to the mapping effort for Sudan since the referendum on January 9. To aid their work, we’ve published updated satellite imagery of the region, covering 125,000 square kilometers and 40 percent of the U.N.’s priority areas, to Google Earth and Maps. 

The goal of  to engage and train members of the Sudanese diaspora worldwide , and others who have lived and worked in the region, to use Google Map Maker so they could contribute their local knowledge of the region to the ongoing mapping effort, particularly in the area of social infrastructure. Our hope is that these events will help build a self-sufficient mapping community that will contribute their local expertise and remain engaged in Sudan over time.

Who's coming?
We've invited members of the Sudanese diaspora and others who have current local geographic knowledge of the country, to help map features they're aware of.

Can anyone attend the event?
Participation is by invitation only (see details for the upcoming Nairobi event ). Please check back for information about future events.  



    



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