Early Warnings for All intiative (EW4All): June 2024 updates

May highlight: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Strengthen Early Warning Systems

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the field of early warning systems, offering significant advancements in disaster risk management. At ITU’s AI for Good Global Summit on 31 May in Geneva, Switzerland, the EW4All working group’s session on ‘Forecasting the future: AI in early warning systems’ showcased technology's significant potential to enhance forecasting, monitoring, and response strategies. Google's global flood forecasting initiative, Microsoft's work on exposure data in Ethiopia, and Everbridge's innovative communication solutions are prime examples of how AI can be leveraged to improve early warning systems. Additionally, ITU's pilot project on the disaster connectivity map evaluates the effectiveness of digital communication channels in reaching at-risk populations, further underscoring the capabilities of AI in early warning contexts. These developments highlight the expanding opportunities that AI presents in making early warning systems more accessible and effective across different regions and challenges. The aim of the Interpillar Technical Coordination Group now is to work with AI partners to evolve from pilot projects so that more countries can benefit from these technological advances.

Mark your calendar

Regional Planning Meeting: EWS for Floods in Central America and the Caribbean

3 – 5 June, Guatemala City

Fiji Second National EW4All Consultation & GCF EW4All Project Planning Workshop

6 – 7 June, Suva

Ecuador National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative

2 – 3, July, Ecuador

Tonga National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative

Mid-July (tbc), Tonga

Somalia Risk Knowledge Workshop

24 – 25, July, Nairobi

Seychelles National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative

30 - 31 July, Seychelles

Kiribati National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative

5 – 9 August (tbc), Kiribati

Solomon Islands National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative 

19 – 23 August, Honiara

South Africa National Workshop to launch the EW4All Initiative

26 – 29 August, Pretoria

EW4ALL country implementation

Africa

Launch of National Situation Room in Tanzania (14 June)

UNDRR, supported by the CIMA Foundation and regional partners, has recently assisted the Tanzanian government in establishing a National Situation Room for real-time disaster risk data processing and application. This state-of-the-art facility leverages advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies to enhance early warning systems and disaster response mechanisms. By integrating multi-hazard early warning and disaster risk information, the National Situation Room will enable more effective risk assessment, real-time monitoring and rapid decision-making to mitigate and respond to the impacts of disasters. The Tanzania Meteorological Authority works closely with the disaster risk management teams and participated in the establishment of the National Situation Room. The role and responsibility of the Tanzania Meteorological Authority will remain to provide forecasts and early warning information of hydro-meteorological hazards in accordance with the Tanzania Meteorological Authority Act. No. 2 of 2019 and the WMO Standard Operating Procedures. This national situation room is planned to be inaugurated on the 14 June 2024.

Progress on Anticipatory Action in Africa

• There were several anticipatory action framework activations in Africa in May, including an activation for floods in Somalia (WFP), for drought in Zimbabwe (WHH) and for cyclones in Madagascar (Start Network).
• Uganda’s second National Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action took place from 22 to 23 May under the theme “Navigating uncertainty: disaster and climate-risk financing”. This year, the overall purpose was to foster collaboration, dialogue and strategic planning among key stakeholders, and to generate recommendations for how to advance the scale up of anticipatory action in Uganda.

Regional Association for Africa (13 – 15 May)

Held virtually from 13-15 May 2024, the RAI Regional Association meeting addressed challenges in weather, water, and climate-related issues. The meeting brought together heads of national meteorological and hydrological services throughout Africa in order to address critical concerns which underpin the work of NMHS. The implementation of the EW4All in Africa took a centre stage and the meeting encouraged Members to develop national early warning roadmaps in consultation with their relevant national authorities for implementation in the region.  Other areas discussed included the need to strengthen observation networks, enhance climate services, promote sustainable water resources management and foster regional cooperation. The critical role of resource mobilization in enhancing the capacity of NMHSs in Africa to deliver vital services as well as improve visibility, mainstream services into national agendas and leverage partnerships was also highlighted.

Severe Weather Programme for Eastern Africa (14 – 17 May)

The Regional Subprogramme Management Team (RSMT) met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 14 – 17 May 2024. Supported by FINKRET and CREWS East Africa, Horn of Africa and Djibouti, the RSMT met to review progress of SWFP-Eastern Africa, exploring the potential to scale-up to include more countries and hazards. This meeting was instrumental for setting the framework for the SWFP expansion to the Horn of Africa region in support of the EW4All initiative. SWFP-Eastern Africa currently involves nine countries, with Djibouti and Somalia joining in 2023. Eritrea and Sudan have also been invited to join in 2024.

Meeting of the Heads of Meteorological Services in the East Africa Community (23 – 24 May)

This meeting comprising of the Member States of the EAC was held to assess meteorological operations in the EAC and make policy recommendations. Members were encouraged to continue expanding and sustaining their observational networks, improve data sharing and build capacity for Numerical Weather Prediction to effectively contribute to the EW4All initiative and enhance coordination mechanism in their respective countries. Also discussed was the need to enhance capacities in provision of marine meteorology services to support early warning in the blue economy.

Advisories and early warnings issued ahead of Tropical Cyclone Hidaya

WMO’s Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre La Reunion, Tanzania Meteorological Agency and Kenya Meteorological Department regularly issued respective advisories and warnings about Tropical Cyclone Hidaya, a historically significant weather system in the northwestern corner of the South-West Indian Ocean basin, which exacerbated the ongoing socio-economic situation in the region caused by floods and drought.

Arab States

Djibouti National Consultation (7 – 8 May)

• The EW4All Djibouti National Consultation was organized on 7-8 May 2024, supported by WMO and UNDRR and led by the Executive Secretary on Disaster Risk Management and the National Meteorological Service (ANM), with participation from UN institutions coordinated by the resident coordinator office. Drafts for EW4All Gap Analysis, EW4All Roadmap and a EW4All coordination committee were developed during the workshop. 
• The EW4All workshop was held in conjunction with an ITU-led workshop on emergency communications and followed by a CADRI-led assessment mission.
• EWS in Djibouti are supported through a dedicated CREWS Djibouti project and the WMO-NORCAP partnership for the support to improve Djibouti National Meteorological Service website. EW4All in
• Djibouti is also leveraging on other projects such as SOFF and WB urban and food security.

World Bank leads international efforts in support of Tunisia (8 – 9 May)

The Second National Conference on Early Warning Systems, titled "From Strategy to Action: Advances and Next Steps for Implementing a Multi-Hazard Early Warning System in Tunisia," took place in Tunis on May 8-9, 2024. Supported by the World Bank and other international partners, this conference brought together experts, government representatives, and international organizations to discuss the roadmap for a comprehensive and integrated multi-hazard early warning system in Tunisia. The event facilitated knowledge exchange, capacity building, and collaborative efforts to enhance Tunisia's resilience to disaster and climate risks. Participants engaged in high-level discussions and practical training sessions, achieving significant progress in defining strategic priorities and implementation steps for the national early warning system.

Asia & Pacific

Cambodia National Roadmap Development (17 May)

On 17 May, a National Consultation Workshop on EW4All National Roadmap Development was held in Phnom Penh under the leadership of the government leading agency, National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), with support from WFP Cambodia. The workshop was attended by the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Women Affairs together with multiple UN and non-UN stakeholders. From the global pillar leads, UNDRR, WMO and IFRC supported the facilitation of the discussions. Following the national roadmap development, a GCF-UNDP EW4All project proposal meeting was held with the same stakeholders to discuss the priority actions that could potentially be supported through the GCF project.

Integrating Gender and Disability into Early Warnings in the Maldives

Maldives will implement the gender and disability inclusive EWS checklist and discuss the overall EWS communications with relevant partners and ministries in late July. This event looks to strengthen the existing EWS through consultation with creators and receivers of warnings in the country with a focus on ensuring communities at greater risk are included in the formulation, distribution and utilization of these early warning messages.

Progress on Anticipatory Action in Asia & Pacific

• In April 2024, a Regional Training of Trainers on Anticipatory Action was organized in the Asia Pacific region for government representatives, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the UN and NGOs, with the aim to empower governments and partners to examine optimal ways of establishing anticipatory action systems in their countries. This includes integration into existing disaster risk management (DRM) systems, active participation in activations and evaluations and mainstreaming the concept in DRM strategic documents and policies. This ToT package will be the basis for similar trainings in other regions and national contexts. 
• In May, there were several anticipatory action framework activations in the region, including in Bangladesh for cyclone (WFP, Start Network) and for heatwave (IFRC), Pakistan for heatwave (Start Network) and in the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia for drought (FAO).

ASEAN Climate Outlook Forum highlights Early Warning

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Climate Outlook Forum (ASEANCOF) took place with the aim to provide collaboratively developed and consensus-based seasonal climate outlooks and related information on a regional scale. ASEANCOF-22 was hosted by Lao PDR’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH). The theme of ASEANCOF-22 was agriculture and climate services, with a particular focus on drought. During the meeting, further discussions took place with representatives from Lao PDR and Cambodia on the progress of their national EW4All Roadmaps and the establishment of their respective national coordination mechanisms. Additionally, a meeting to kick off the development of a national drought action plan and an Integrated Water Resources Management Plan in Lao PDR took place, and it was agreed that these plans should link to the national EW4All Roadmap, which is with the Minister for final sign-off. 

Scaling up Early Warning in Asia Pacific

• Regional Pillar leads met on 2 and 3 May in Bangkok to strategize on the implementation of EW4All in the Asia-Pacific region. Subsequent discussions, also within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Disaster Risk Reduction (APP-DRR), focused on the draft of the new Asia-Pacific Action Plan on DRR 2024-2027, the APMCDRR and the first Regional EW4All Multi-Stakeholder Forum, scheduled for 14 to 18 October in Manila, Philippines.
• Regional Pillar Leads and ESCAP are also in discussions with further countries in Asia, and with SPREP with all Pacific SIDS (under WRP), who have expressed an interest to apply the EW4All guidance, methodologies, tools and experiences at the national level (some of them with concrete requests for support). Updates will follow in subsequent newsletters.
• During the last week of May, several meetings took place in Port Vila, Vanuatu, with high relevance to EW4All in the Pacific, as they were related to the update of the WRP Programme and its alignment with EW4All (i.e. its expansion to cover all EW4All Pillars). They also discussed the establishment of a Pacific Integrated Forecasting System, the review of the Pacific Meteorological Council/Pacific Meteorological Desk Partners (PMC/PMDP) and the Pacific Roadmap for Strengthening Climate Services (PRSCS). Follow-up meetings are planned for June 2024.

Americas & the Caribbean

Guatemala: Early Warning Peer Exchange between Mexico City and Guatemala City

With the aim of enhancing multi-hazard early warning systems at the national and local level, a virtual technical exchange on seismic warning was carried out in May between Mexico City and Guatemala City with the participation of municipal and national authorities and technical personnel and supported by UNDRR.  Key lessons learned from Mexico City's alert system, such as setting clear activation thresholds and real-time management protocols, will serve to strengthen the EW4All initiative in Guatemala and support its implementation plan.  Key actions include developing a comprehensive plan for the adoption of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), conducting training sessions on monitoring equipment installation and fostering community awareness programs on early alerts and disaster response. Additionally, establishing a joint working group to facilitate ongoing collaboration and knowledge sharing in seismic alert systems will enhance a more coordinated and effective response to seismic events in these two neighboring countries.

Collaboration on financing in Latin America and the Caribbean

The structuring of a regional facility intended to support countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in the formulation of national and regional projects on “Climate Information and Early Warning Systems (CIEWS)”  that would be submitted for finance/co-finance to the Green Climate Fund was announced by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) on 15 May in the framework of the signing of a broader Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the European Union with subregional DRR intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) along with Chile, Cuba and Mexico.

Progress on CAP implementation throughout the region

Four one-hour webinars were finalized with the Dominican Republic (DR) on CAP implementation with support from expert forecasters from Ecuador and Mexico’s NMHSs. The DR is aiming to be operational in the next few weeks of Q2 2024, when the hurricane season starts. Next countries in-line for support include Panama and Guatemala.  Progress was made with the CAP Caribbean (mainly English speaking) implementation and sustainability through the hosting of a WMO webinar series with trainers and support from the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services, the Belize National Meteorological Services, Barbados Meteorological Services, the Caribbean Meteorological Organization and the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology. The session enhanced CAP awareness and is meant to promote the adoption and routine use of CAP to issue warnings in the region. MeteoAlarm also provided support for activities to format alerts for countries with Dutch as a first language, namely Suriname.

Spanish-language webinar series for EWS organized and launched

The WMO Regional Training Centers of Argentina and Peru, the NMHN of Argentina, the IFRC Centre of Climate and EW4All regional pillars organized a series of webinars focused on the EW4All initiative in Spanish-speaking countries in the LAC region. The first webinar, held on 29 May 2024, aimed to strengthen collaboration between National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), National Disaster Risk Management Offices (NDRMOs), and the humanitarian sector, attracting over 400 participants.

Europe & Central Asia

Local-level consultations in Tajikistan lead to progress on National Roadmap

In Tajikistan, a series of local consultations in Khujand, Khorog and Bokhtar were conducted in April to discuss the draft Roadmap on implementation of the EW4All initiative and strengthening EWS in the country. During the workshops, participants discussed ensuring synergy between national level plans and actions to be taken at the local level, considering existing capacities and partnership opportunities. Suggestions on strengthening local level activities were also obtained. The immediate next step entails holding consultations with relevant national agencies and partners to finalize actions of the Roadmap within each pillar under the leadership of the relevant National Pillar Leads.

Pillar 2 rapid assessments completed in Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and North Macedonia

WMO prepared EW4All rapid assessments for Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, North Macedonia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic and Ukraine to assess the national capacities under Pillar 2. All these countries have significant gaps in observing, data processing and forecasting systems, lack of formal links between the stakeholders in the dissemination chain and are missing regulatory frameworks that connect early warnings to emergency plans.

Steps to further develop South-East European Multi-Hazard Early Warning Advisory System

WMO and UNDRR are collaborating with European Commission DG NEAR to support the development of the South-East European Multi-Hazard Early Warning Advisory System, which aims to improve forecasting and warning provisions related to meteorological and hydrological hazards across 18 countries of South-East Europe. In April 2024, a subregional EW4All event was organized in Athens, Greece with representatives of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of these countries to plan the next steps in developing the regional early warning advisory system.

Global interpillar technical coordination & activities

Strengthened Collaboration with the Green Climate Fund (GCF)

• Recognizing the GCF's critical role in funding national EWS programmes, the interpillar group is collaborating with UNDP to implement an EW4All Accelerator project in seven countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Cambodia, Chad, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Fiji. An additional ten countries are now being identified as pipeline countries. The GCF grant will also support global technical coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and knowledge management.
• Additional GCF projects, such as the WFP-led SADC initiative, the SPREP-led One Pacific Programme and the UNEP-led Maldives early warning project, are being developed with the engagement of the four pillars. The interpillar group is working to ensure that its catalytic work in country is supporting countries to access more substantial, longer-term funding- with an emphasis on building government institutional capacity- through GCF as well as other large-scale multilateral funding mechanisms.

EW4All at the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States

A parallel session coordinated by UNDRR was carried out at the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) in May in Antigua & Barbuda under the theme “Ensuring a Multi-hazard approach in the implementation of the Early Warning for All Initiative (EW4ALL)”. This session aligned with the thematic area of the conference “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity" while focusing on levering data and digital technologies and building effective institutions for a resilient future in SIDS. The conceptual basis of the session was the notion that resilient prosperity relies on bolstering disaster preparedness, especially through multi-hazard early warning systems and capacity for anticipatory action, featuring insights by national, regional and international partners.

Anticipatory Action in 2023: A Global Overview report launched

While the focus of the initiative is on strengthening preparedness to respond to warnings by national and local actors, partners are developing anticipatory action framework(s) tied to pre-agreed financing to complement and amplify national efforts. As of the end of 2023, there were 107 anticipatory action frameworks in place in 47 countries; combined, these outline anticipatory actions to protect 10.9 million people before a hazard occurs, and with pre-agreed financing in place worth USD 147.8 million (Anticipation Hub Overview Report, 2024). There were 98 activations during 2023, which reached 12.8 million people, supported by financing worth USD 198 million. A further 133 frameworks were being developed in 68 countries, for 19 different hazards.