Volta Basin seeks to increase resilience to floods and drought

In the past few months many parts of the Volta Basin have been hit by heavy rainfall, causing floods which have displaced thousands of people and led to loss of life and livelihoods. Ghana, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Benin have all been impacted.

In order to boost resilience to such extreme events, WMO is an implementing partner in the Volta Flood and Drought Management project, funded by the Adaptation Fund.

The US$ 7.9 million million project seeks to develop the flood and drought forecasting and early warning system for the entire Volta Basin together with risk maps. This will support the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to monitor the events in advance and also disseminate timely warnings to the relevant stakeholders including citizens for preparedness and rapid response.

As part of this, WMO, the Global Water Partnership, the Volta Basin Authority and the CIMA Research are facilitating six national workshops throughout the month of October.

Three workshops have already concluded in Togo, Benin, and Cote d’Ivoire and 3 more to come in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Mali.

These provide a unique opportunity to bring together professionals working in different sectors, including meteorology, hydrology, civil protection, environment and water resources, responsible for the management of extreme events and climate change adaptation at the regional, national, and local level.

The workshops offer a chance to consolidate and share knowledge on gaps andstrengths of national Early Warning Systems for floods and drought. Interactive participation and high-level engagement are always key for building resilient people-centered early warning systems.