Early Warnings for All intiative (EW4All): May 2024 updates
High-level Political Support Mobilised for Early Warning for All
Maldives begins roll-out of President-endorsed EW4All Roadmap
The Maldives, as one of the initial 30 countries under EW4All, has launched its National Implementation Roadmap for Scaling Up Early Warning Systems, which was recently endorsed by President Mohamed Muizzu. This high-level political support represents a significant stride in the country's goal of ensuring the safety and resilience of its population in the face of growing disasters and emergencies. The roadmap provides a comprehensive strategy for national and local governments to strengthen people-centric EWS in the Maldives through targeted actions and resource allocation. Acknowledging the roadmap's vital role in enhancing national disaster preparedness, it has received presidential endorsement from President Mohamed Muizzu, highlighting its significance in directing national activities towards a more effective and inclusive EWS.
Guatemala implements EW4All Initiative with Presidential commitment
EW4All was launched in Guatemala on 12 March by President César Bernardo Arévalo, who in his opening remarks emphasized the strategic importance of EW4All in ensuring a safer future for Guatemalan society. "We are taking steps to build resilience, moving away from a purely emergency management approach. We believe in and are committed to a comprehensive vision that genuinely reduces the risks leading to disasters, as we firmly believe in the possibility of a safer Guatemala," stated the President. The launch was also attended by UN Resident Coordinator in Guatemala, José Miguel Barreto, who kicked off efforts by national multisectoral and multistakeholder partners to identify gaps in the country's early warning systems, as a foundation for developing a national implementation plan over several months. The event also served to concretize the Executive Secretariat of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (SE-CONRED) and the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) as the two nationally designated focal points for EW4All in Guatemala. Guatemala's national implementation plan reflects a multisectoral and multi-stakeholder commitment to go the last mile towards inclusive and people-centred early warning for all.
Accelerating Progress through Strengthened Partnerships and Coordinated Efforts
Burundi accelerates action to scale up early warning
Burundi is advancing on efforts to strengthen its early warning systems, including through recently convening national partners to take stock and assess the status of early warning systems, gaps and priorities. With the goal to provide a shared understanding of how to strengthen the country's overall early warning system, national stakeholders met in Gitega, Burundi to identify actions to enhance risk awareness and response mechanisms. Participants reviewed how to improve risk profiling, strengthen emergency coordination and ensure the integration of risk data into early warning systems. Acknowledging the need for a comprehensive risk management approach, the Government of Burundi will be developing an EW4All roadmap that aims to strengthen national capacities and advance the country's goal to achieve effective early warning systems.
Spotlight on Partnerships in the Pacific
Recognising that multiple efforts engaging numerous partners are underway in the Pacific, partners are finding ways to ensure the different initiatives are well coordinated and leading to concrete shared outcomes. The Collaboration for Inclusive Early Warning Systems and Climate Services in the Pacific Regional Coordination Workshop was held on 17 of April 2024 in Fiji, embedded in a series of EW4All-related meetings (SOFF Pacific Workshop, Pacific Anticipatory Action (AA) Regional Meeting, CREWS Pacific SIDS 2.0 Project Steering Committee Meeting, among others). Representatives from Pacific SIDS governments, including NMHSs and NDMOs, NGOs/CSOs including the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF), private sectors, regional organizations, UN agencies, academic institutions, ADB, GCF, Australian DFAT, New Zealand MFAT, NIWA, MetService New Zealand and US NOAA NWS, participated in the Workshop. The participants discussed and shared experiences from national and regional EW4All and Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme activities as well as from other EWS-related projects and initiatives in the Pacific and took stock of Pacific EWSs' Initiatives - regionally and nationally - across the four pillars of EW4All, providing an overview of existing gaps, challenges and barriers and explore how ongoing and upcoming projects (such as CREWS, GCF, Adaptation Fund) can best address them under the umbrella of WRP/EW4All.
Mark your calendar
Djibouti Workshop to develop National Emergency Telecommunication Plan (NETP)
5 - 6 May, Djibouti
Djibouti National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative
7 - 9 May, Djibouti
Cambodia National Workshop for EW4All roadmap and GCF project design
17 May, Phnom Penh
Liberia National Workshop
27 - 28 May, Monrovia
Somalia Risk Knowledge Workshop
TBD, June, Somalia
South Africa National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative
17 - 19 July, Pretoria
Seychelles National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative
23 - 24 July, Seychelles
EW4ALL Country Implementation
Africa
Rwanda National Emergency Telecommunication Planning (NETP) (13 - 14 March)
ITU convened different government agencies and international organisations to agree on action items to develop and implement the NETP, including aspects related to early warning systems and cell broadcast solution, among others.
Somalia Workshop on National Emergency Telecommunication Plan (NETP) Implementation, Common Alerting Protocol and Cell Broadcast Early Warning System
The 4-day workshop is being jointly organised with the National Communications Authority of Somalia, GSMA and ITU in Nairobi, Kenya with the dates to be confirmed.
Arab States
Comoros Workshop on the Implementation of National Emergency Telecommunications Plan (NETP) (15 - 16 April)
The workshop, which preceded the EW4All national launch, brought together multiple stakeholders to build capacity in the areas of emergency telecommunications and early warning systems, with a focus on cell-broadcast solution, location-based SMS and the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). The next step will be to validate and implement the NETP and to carry out a feasibility study on early warning systems.
Comoros National Workshop (17 - 19 April)
The national launch of the EW4All Initiative was held on April 17 through 19 in Comoros. The event brought together key stakeholders, national institutions and pillar leads to engage in discussions regarding the country's early warning systems. Through collaborative efforts, the workshop led to the completion of stakeholder mapping, gap analysis, prioritization of key needs, definition of coordination mechanism and planning for the roadmap development.
Tunisia's Second EW4All Workshop (8 - 9 May)
Following the EW4All workshop held in November, Tunisia will host a second workshop as part of its development of a national roadmap. Convened by the Tunisian Government with support from the World Bank and Swiss Government, the workshop will review learned lessons and plans for the future of the country's national roadmap.
Asia & Pacific
Fiji EW4All Workshop (29 February - 1 March)
The Government of Fiji jointly with the United Nations organized a technical workshop on Early Warnings for All in Suva, Fiji. This two-day technical workshop aimed to take stock of gaps, needs and opportunities to strengthen EWS in Fiji and inform the development of the EW4All GCF project proposal. Under the coordination of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) and Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) and co-organized with United Nations in Fiji, the stakeholder event brought together 75 representatives from across government, non-government, and technical partners. The workshop resulted in an initial list of priorities/gaps that will inform a wider national roadmap and GCF proposal development that is ongoing.
Pacific Regional Early Warning Early Action Regional Workshops (15 - 18 April)
A series of regional Early Warning and Anticipatory Action stakeholder meetings were held in Fiji and co-hosted, by the UN, Pacific Resilience Partnership and IFRC. The meetings brought together 15 Pacific Governments with delegations consisting of NDMO, NMHS and sectorial ministries as well as non-government/private sector partners. The week consisted of regional Anticipatory Action workshops (15 - 16 April), which resulted in commitments to advance AA agenda in the Pacific at both the regional and national level. A regional coordination workshop on inclusive early warning in the Pacific was held on 17 April, which was designed to map the many EWS initiatives in the region, under the EW4All and regionally led Weather Ready Pacific.
All countries in Asia and Fiji in the Pacific have completed national EW4All workshops
By April 2024, all countries in Asia and Fiji in the Pacific had conducted their national EW4All workshops, while all 10 countries in the Region completed their gap analyses (at least for EW4All Pillar 2, via the WMO "rapid assessment"). These analyses and workshops serve as the foundational framework for the formulation of national roadmaps. Lao PDR and Maldives have finalised their roadmaps following a nationally-led, multi-sector process. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, and Fiji are well advanced in the drafting process. The countries in Asia and Fiji have established national stakeholder coordination mechanisms as a vehicle for EW4All implementation at the national and sub-national level. In Asia, there is no intention to develop dedicated regional EW4All Action Plans. Rather, Pillar leads are mainstreaming EW4All in their organisational plans. In addition, several existing regional and subregional frameworks and plans can be and are being leveraged and updated to reflect EW4All (e.g., the ESCAP's Regional strategy to achieve early warnings for all by 2027 in Asia and the Pacific). Regional Pillar leads are hiring consultants to support the national roll-out and coordination, in particular in Bangladesh and Nepal, following successful examples in other focus countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Tajikistan).
EW4All kick-off workshops will occur in remaining four Pacific focus countries
EW4All kick-off workshops in the remaining four EW4All focus countries in the Pacific are planned for the period June to November 2024. In the Pacific, EW4All is delivered through the Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme, as endorsed by Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) already in 2023. A Regional EW4All/WRP Workshop on 17 April 2024 in Fiji helped with "marrying" both initiatives, expanding the scope of WRP to cover all EW4All Pillars and with planning concrete next steps. Participating countries and organisations agreed to update the WRP Implementation Plan and governance arrangements to expand the scope of WRP to cover all EW4All Pillars.
Americas & the Caribbean
Barbados´ Second National Consultative Workshop (26 - 27 February)
Barbados´ Second National Consultative Workshop took place on 26 and 27 February in Bridgetown. The capacity-building event was accompanied by a call for urgency by the Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams, who highlighted the need for adaptability in the face of unpredictable weather patterns and emphasized the importance of agility in disaster risk reduction. As Barbados looks towards the future, the EW4All initiative reinforces the nation's steadfast commitment to building a resilient framework against the unpredictable challenges posed by systemic risks.
Antigua and Barbuda's Second National Consultive Workshop (12 - 13 March)
Antigua and Barbuda's second national consultative workshop was held on 12 and 13 March under the leadership of the National Office for Disaster Services (NODS) and the Antigua and Barbuda Meteorological Service (ABMS) as a collaborative effort involving national stakeholders, including representatives from the government, the private sector, civil society organizations, regional and international organizations. As with Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda's EW4All implementation plan is being guided by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) through its Caribbean Disaster Management Strategy.
Technical exchange between Central American countries and Chile paves way for South-South and regional cooperation on EW4All
A technical exchange between Central American countries and Chile took place on 18 and 19 March in Santiago, Chile focusing on issues of strengthening linkages between risk awareness, modelling and forecasting information in early warning systems, national monitoring and communications protocols and instruments and strategies for forecast-based preparedness. This exchange is a steppingstone in what is envisioned as a strategy for South-South and triangular cooperation in the region.
Interpillar Panel Discussion at WMO's Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee
An interpillar panel discussion on EW4All during the Forty-Sixth Session of WMO's Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee took place on 21 March in Panama City, Panama with UNDRR, WMO, IFRC, NOAA and the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO).
EW4All Implementation Session at the International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) (27 - 30 May)
The fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) from 27 to 30 May will be the venue for a session on "Ensuring a Multi-hazard approach in the implementation of the Early Warning for All Initiative (EW4ALL)". This session is aligned with the thematic focus of the conference, Levering Data and Digital Technologies and Building effective Institutions for a Resilient Future in SIDS.
Haiti roadmap work continues
Despite a canceled second workshop in late March due to increased insecurity, Haiti is actively drafting its roadmap. Online sessions are planned to validate the roadmap in the near future.
Ecuador EW4All launch to coincide with EW4All Global Climate Fund (GCF) Workshop
At the national level, Ecuador has made significant progress in stakeholder mapping, gap analysis, prioritization of key needs, defining coordination mechanisms and planning for roadmap development. Recognising the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, the launch of EW4All is anticipated to coincide with an EW4All Global Climate Fund (GCF) national project development workshop in early June. Europe & Central Asia
Sub-national workshops held in 3 Regions of Tajikistan
The Government of Tajikistan, in collaboration with the EW4All Pillar leads and the UN Resident Coordinator, conducted local level consultations: in Sughd region on 19 April 2024, in Bokhtar on 24 April 2024 and in Khatlon region on 30 April 2024. These capacity-building consultations brought together local governments and communities towards the finalization of the national EW4All roadmap and the identification of specific gaps, needs and priorities for action.
Global Interpillar Technical Coordination & Activities
Montandon - the Global Crisis Data Bank
In 2022, the IFRC launched the Global Crisis Data Bank (GCDB) initiative along with a number of key partners, with the aim of establishing a platform to serve as a global disaster database. The platform includes impact data from EM-DAT, the DesInventar national disaster loss databases, the Global Disaster Alerting Coordination System, the Global Internal Displacement Database - as well as the data from IFRC's own systems and the National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies. When fully operational, the GCDB will serve to inform future action based on analysis of past natural hazard events, their impacts and responses to these crises.
EW4All Regional Exchange with Focus on Pillar 1
An EW4All regional exchange workshop with a focus on Pillar 1 (risk knowledge) took place from 30 April to 3 May 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. Considering the advancements and need to collectively reflect on next steps, the meeting facilitated a space for cross-regional learning, sharing experiences, information and views on the current status of the implementation of the EW4All Initiative in Asia and the Pacific. Furthermore, the workshop identified needs and approaches to reinforce support to countries and scale up partnerships for Pillar 1. Workshop participants included regional actors, specifically UN agencies working on early warning and early action at the regional level, technical partners and regional intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the upcoming Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) from 14 to 17 October in Manila, Philippines (the first Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction since the Mid-term Review of the Sendai Framework). A dedicated Regional EW4All Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) as well as the Regional Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action will be organised in parallel to the APMCDRR to dive deeper into EW4All-specific topics and to engage with a wider stakeholder base.
AI for Good Global Summit - Forecasting the Future: AI in Early Warning Systems
As part of ITU's AI for Good Global Summit, the AI for EW4All Initiative will organize a workshop on 'Forecasting the future: AI in early warning systems' on the 31 May in Geneva, Switzerland. The afternoon session from 14:00-18:00 CEST will showcases AI use cases from across the EW4All Pillars to help improve disaster risk understanding, monitoring, forecasting, warning dissemination, and response measures. It will foster dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders, encourage new partners to commit to innovative AI solutions and provide an opportunity to engage countries ready to pilot these AI applications, advancing the practical integration of AI in early warning systems. Register to attend here.