Welcome to UAViators

UAViators (You-Aviators)

"Humanitarian organizations should engage in initiatives like the Humanitarian UAV Network." - United Nations (OCHA) Policy Brief 

With over 3,500 members in 120+ countries, our mission is to promote the safe, coordinated and effective use of UAVs for data collection and cargo delivery in a wide range of humanitarian and development settings. We do this by developing and championing international guidelines for the responsible use of UAVs. We actively promote operational safety and document lessons learned and best practices. We never self-deploy. We only mobilize at the request of established aid and development partners. We actively promote community engagement & educate UAV operators. We convene Experts Meetings and facilitate information sharing, coordination and learning across all our efforts. Our pilot roster includes 600+ UAV pilots in 70+ countries.

Our objectives are thus five-fold: establish clear standards for the responsible use of UAVs and provide up-to-date regulatory information; document lessons learned and best practices; provide hands-on UAV training; inform UAV deployments during disasters; and catalyze research & information sharing.

To pursue these objectives, we co-organized the first ever Humanitarian UAV Experts Meeting at the UN Secretariat in 2014 and held this meeting again in 2015 at MIT. We taught the first ever Humanitarian UAV training courses in Europethe US and Asia for humanitarian and development professionals. In addition, we convened a high-level policy forum supported by the Rockefeller Foundation to further develop our international code of conduct. We also joined the Drones in Humanitarian Action research program in 2015. In 2016, we launched WeRobotics to take over the operational responsibilities of UAViators and provide professional training and transfer drone technologies to local partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond. In 2018, we launched a dedciated website for the Humanitarian UAV Code of Conduct: UAVcode.org. In 2019, we partnered with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative to revise and update UAVcode. In 2020, we launched the updated Code of Conduct along with new online trainings on the use of drones for disaster response and on community engagement. In 2021, we launched this digital solution for rapid drone coordination and authorization for disaster response. 

To get started:

  1. Please sign up (the private site has member-only features).
  2. Complete your profile and Start Here to make the most of your membership.
  3. Use the Email-List if you're looking for direct input.
  4. Post announcements to the Forum
  5. Read, improve and share our Code of Conduct and Best Practices Guide.
  6. If you're a pilot, please join the Pilot Roster here.


New! Founder Patrick Meier's new TEDx talk on Humanitarian UAVs. See also his book, Digital Humanitarians, which has been praised by experts at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, United Nations, Red Cross, Work Bank and more. The book features members of UAViators in action.

New! Picture Book Series on Drones for Good!

We’re very pleased to announce the launch of a new picture book series on Drones for Good! This series focuses on real-world experts leading real-world drones-for-good projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond. The books are written with, and by, these experts, along with local editors and illustrators. The first book focuses on Panama, storms and mangroves. We'd be so grateful for your kind help in getting the word out. Click here to learn more and get your copy!  

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Digital Solution for Drone Coordination in Disasters

Dear All, If you're looking for a drone authorization and coordination platform for disaster response, then please get in touch. We're exploring opportunities to deploy the platfrom below with a range of partners. Organizations are also able to deploy the platform independently.   More on the tool here. Contact fly@werobotics.org for more details.   Many thanks, Patrick

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1 Reply · Reply by Marcus Idoko Mar 12

RFP: UAV demonstration flights for health product transport in Central African Republic

Dear UAViators,  Hope this message finds your safe and well during this dificult time. I wanted to share a new project I am supporting and ask for help in finding a UAV partner to support this project:The World Health Organization’s (WHO) country office in the Central African Republic (CAR), has identified a potential opportunity to improve the speed and reliability of polio and COVID-19 laboratory sample transportation by integrating UAV transportation into the public health supply chain,…

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1 Reply · Reply by Marcus Idoko Mar 12

Grenada Datasets

Hi all UAViators,I work for the University of Portsmouth and as part of an ongoing research project, I am looking to use aerial data sets of various locations in Grenada. If anyone had undertaken aerial surveys, photography, video, nadir or oblique, I would appreciate if you could get in touch via toby.meredith@port.ac.uk.The towns I am interested in are:-          St George- 10-          Gouyave- 8-          Victoria- 10-          Sauters- 8-          Glenville-8-          St…

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Activity

Lada Roslycky, Bobbi Johnson, Md. Al Kawsar and 3 more joined Humanitarian UAV Network
Sep 1
Luis Hernando Aguilar updated their profile
Aug 17
Ryan Sajdak is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Jan 13
Rock Gardner updated their profile
Nov 18, 2022
Aneirin Wenner is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Nov 4, 2022
Yigiter Ozmen is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Nov 1, 2022
Remy Haggard and Charlie Tomberg joined Humanitarian UAV Network
Oct 31, 2022
Jake Stenson is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Oct 25, 2022
Kevin Ackland and Michael Bollard joined Humanitarian UAV Network
Sep 7, 2022
Brian Mc Donald is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Aug 24, 2022
Wojciech Wysocki is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Aug 23, 2022
Benjamin Kling is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Aug 15, 2022
Parker Dinkins is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Aug 10, 2022
Brian Roberts is now a member of Humanitarian UAV Network
Jul 1, 2022
Astrid Schreiber updated their profile photo
Jun 29, 2022
Astrid Schreiber updated their profile photo
Jun 29, 2022
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