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Enhancing Early Warning Systems in Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic
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A project in Cambodia and Lao PDR was recently approved by the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative. The four-year, US$ 5.5 million project is led by national institutions and will enhance their capacities to provide hydrometeorological, early action, and response services to vulnerable populations in Cambodia and Lao PDR. The project will build upon ongoing initiatives in the region and actively engage key regional stakeholders. These efforts are being implemented by WMO, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the World Bank (WB). Expected completion is July 2025.
Through the duration of the project, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs) of both countries, with support from regional partners, will address current gaps across the four pillars of early warning systems: Risk Knowledge, Monitoring and Warning Services, Dissemination and Communication, and Response Capability.
Results are expected in the following areas:
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Strengthened institutions operational and legal frameworks;
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Capacity of NMHSs to provide more timely and precise forecasts and warnings;
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Ability to disseminate warnings to the people and institutions that need them most, through information and communication technology of the national services;
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Enhanced preparedness and response capability; and
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Improved integration of gender and disability inclusiveness to ensure early warnings are developed with and reach all relevant stakeholders.
The official launch of the project will take place on 4 October 2021 and will bring together key national and regional participants in the project. For more information on the project visit here.
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Empowering Met-Services through legal mandates, National Strategic Roadmaps and Frameworks for Weather, Water and Climate Services
Activities under the CREWS Caribbean and CREWS SIDS-SEA projects continue despite challenges caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the volcanic outbreak in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and various extreme weather events in the region.
WMO and the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO) have jointly agreed to provide funding for the development, endorsement and implementation of a Model Meteorological Bill and Policy, and National Strategic Plan and Framework for Weather, Water and Climate Services for eight Caribbean countries.
In June, the Model Meteorological Bill and Policy were endorsed by CMO member states in a validation workshop. On that basis, specific Meteorological Bills and Policies are now being developed for Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The development of the Bill and Policy as well as the criteria for assessing in which countries they should be implemented was, as underlined by Dr Arlene Laing, Coordinating Director, CMO, a great collaborative effort between WMO, CMO, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as well as the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH).
In August, CMO organized a meeting in which six of the eight developed National Strategic Plans and Frameworks for Weather, Water and Climate Services were endorsed (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines). The plans and frameworks were developed in collaboration with focal points from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, various national stakeholders, CMO, CIMH and the WMO Sub-Regional Office for Regional Association IV.
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The endorsement of the Model Meteorological Bill and the National Strategic Plans and Frameworks are foundational to strengthen the hydrometeorological services of Member states in the region. They are designed to support the NMHSs in achieving appropriate legal mandates with well-defined roles, responsibilities and adequate resources. According to Dr Laing, this is of tremendous importance, as most of the NMHSs in the region have operated in the absence of specific legislation in the past.
Furthermore, they will provide governments with guidance on the essential requirements for NMHSs to operate, and give WMO and other development partners a better understanding of priority needs in the countries.
The Strengthening Hydro-Meteorological and Early Warning Services in the Caribbean (CREWS Caribbean) project is funded by the Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). For more information visit here.
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Climate Services for Sustainable Development in Africa
Climate services are critical for sustainable socioeconomic development, particularly in the context of a changing climate. Like many countries in Africa, Malawi and Tanzania are experiencing various impacts of climate variability and change, including severe floods, frequent and prolonged droughts, extreme heat, heavy winds, declining crop yields, health challenges, loss of livestock, and decreased water availability.
Over the past five years, the Adaptation Programme in Africa (GFCS-APA) Phase II, a US$ 4.3 million project funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) has addressed some of these challenges through seven key initiatives:
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National Frameworks for Climate Services (NFCS): In Malawi, an NFCS was established, and a National Climate Change Policy and National Meteorological Policy were developed. In Tanzania, the NFCS was launched in August 2018 and a strategic plan to promote its implementation has been prepared, resulting in increased government support for the implementation of prioritized activities.
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Interactive Radio Broadcasts and Listening Hubs: In both countries, radio programs broadcast information on climate and agriculture to vulnerable target communities. By mid-2020, at least 50 percent of households in these communities were reached by radio and SMS climate advisories. Listeners reported the radio programs increased their skills at using weather information to improve their farming, create seasonal calendars and to change their planting, weeding, and fertilization practices.
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Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA): Over 50 experts in both countries received refreshers on the PICSA methodology. This approach involves agriculture extension staff working with groups of farmers ahead of the agricultural season to analyze historical climate information and use participatory tools to develop and choose crop, livestock and livelihood options best suited to individual farmers’ circumstances.
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Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) initiative Maprooms: The Tanzania Meteorological Agency worked with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, through the ENACTS initiative to produce a country-specific gridded climate data library (ENACTS MAPROOM). These datasets use all observed climate records available in the country and are designed to bring climate knowledge into national decision making by improving availability, access to, and use of climate information.
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Public Health and Resilience: In both countries, climate and weather information were integrated within cholera and malaria surveillance systems. This fostered better collaboration between the NMHSs and respective ministries of health.
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Village Civil Protection Committees (VCPC): In Malawi, VCPC members, volunteers, and some extension workers (agriculture, health, education) were trained on their roles and responsibilities around disaster prevention and response in Malawi.
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Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS): In both countries, the project supported the development of MHEWS protocols and conducted training on disaster risk reduction, climate change, early warnings, and climate smart agro-technologies.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic made for some delays, project activities continued and were completed successfully. The Programme strengthened the resilience of climate vulnerable communities in Malawi and Tanzania by improving climate risk management and adaptation planning through the provision and use of quality sector-tailored climate services.
The project was approved in December 2017, implementation started in August 2018, and the project came to a close in September 2021. For more information on the project visit here.
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New project scales up early warning systems in the Pacific
Over 50 participants, including representatives from multiple Pacific Islands Countries, national, regional and international partners gathered online on 14 July 2021 to take part in the official launch of the Strengthening Hydro Meteorological Early Warning Systems in the Pacific (CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0) project.
The project will enhance the effectiveness and inclusiveness of Regional Early Warning Systems (EWS) for local and vulnerable populations in Pacific Islands, improving early warning capabilities of national and regional hydro-meteorological centers and strengthening existing governance structures.
CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 is the second regional CREWS project in the Pacific and seeks to strengthen existing early warning systems related to hydro-meteorological hazards that are part of the region’s stronger and more comprehensive human protection, safety, security, resilience development, and leaving no-one behind (LNOB) agenda.
The four-year US$ 4.8 million project is expected to be completed in December 2024, and is jointly implemented by WMO, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (WB-GFDRR).
The launch event was opened and chaired by ‘Ofa Fa’anunu, President, of WMO Regional Association V (South-West Pacific), and included speeches from Filipe Lucio, Director, Regional Strategy Office, WMO, Andy McElroy, Head, Pacific sub-office at UNDRR, and Vladimir Tsirkunov, Lead Specialist, WB-GFDRR. It also included a panel discussion that brought together experts in meteorology, hydrology, climate services and disaster management to share their experiences on EWS in the region, and their efforts in improving and enhancing their services for the betterment of their communities in response to hydro-meteorological disasters.
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“The CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 project will enable the communication of more effective warnings to communities, focusing on gender and vulnerable groups, which will facilitate identification of appropriate actions by supporting the four pillars of an effective end-to-end early warning system” stated Filipe Lucio, WMO, during his intervention at the launch event.
For more information on the project visit here.
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Protecting property and lives in the La Plata River Basin
The La Plata River Basin is home to more than 100 million people across five countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay rivers flow through these countries, providing transportation, energy and food. However, these rivers are also subject to major floods which affect the lives of thousands of nearby residents.
To combat this, the U.S. Agency for International Development/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFFICE) has funded the 3-year, US$ 1.5 million, La Plata Program. Implemented by WMO, the program aims to reduce the loss of lives and damage of property in the Basin by strengthening National Meteorological and Hydrological Services capacities to provide timely and accurate forecasts.
Since its inception in 2020, significant progress has been made in each country. Mechanisms have been put in place for the exchange of hydrometeorological data in the basin through the WMO Hydrological Observing System (WHOS), and implementing partner Brigham Young University have developed the Water Data Explorer, a tool that allows countries and interested parties to search, discover, access and download hydrometeorological data.
Before its closing in December 2022, a flood forecasting system developed by the Hydrologic Research Center (HRC) is expected to be installed the basin.
For more information on the project visit here.
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