How Liz Hughes is supporting humanitarian emergencies with maps

MapAction chief executive, Liz Hughes, spoke to Zlata Rodionova about how providing maps and data during humanitarian crises is saving lives across the world

Liz Hughes has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Humanitarian Crisis operations (MapAction)

For Liz Hughes, the news that she had been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Humanitarian Crisis operations this January, came in as a shock. “I’m flabbergasted. Especially to receive this year, considering there have been so many people that have done so much, I couldn’t be more astonished.”

Yet her work as the chief executive of MapAction, an organisation which helps to provide maps and data for international bodies, national authorities and governments during humanitarian emergencies, couldn’t have been more important when the coronavirus pandemic took over the world.

In 2020, the organisation carried out 32 crisis response missions and eight disaster preparedness missions, of which 22 related to Covid-19. This compares to just eight emergency responses and seven preparedness missions the year before.