Early warning systems: Rapid assessments from four partner countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger, and South Sudan

As part of its efforts to build health resilience, MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience conducted a rapid assessment of existing early warning systems (EWS) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, Niger and South Sudan. The assessment evaluated current EWS capabilities and provided recommendations for strengthening these systems to improve Maternal Newborn and Child Health and Family Planning and Reproductive Health outcomes. This work contributes to the project’s objective of understanding the dimensions of fragility and resilience and explores how programmatic approaches can address these factors that directly and indirectly impact health outcomes.

This report finds that the continual scale up, adaptation, and refinement of early warning systems will be required to meet evolving risks and challenges to ensure sustainable health outcomes for all supported populations in affected countries. USAID, the World Bank, and other major donors have pledged significant support for these measures, but humanitarians and development agencies should also promote EWS and integrate strategies in all types of programs at the local level.