Living with Risk. A global review of disaster reduction initiatives

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Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives
ISDR Task Force Working Group
on Early Warning
The aim of Working Group 2 on early warning created
by the ISDR IATF is to better coordinate global practices
in early warning and to make sure it is effectively
utilized as an instrument in disaster reduction activities.
The UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment
leads this Working Group whose membership
includes CDERA, the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO), the German
National Committee for Disaster Reduction, and the
ADRC, GFMC, the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD), the SADC Drought Monitoring
Centres, the South Pacific Applied Geoscience
Commission (SOPAC), the United Nations Programme
for Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT),
the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), UNDP, UNESCO and WMO. The
group builds on previous activities undertaken in the
field and coordinates with those of the different IATF
working groups in the areas of data and information
management, to support assessments of risk and vulnerability
to natural hazards and early warning and vice
versa. The group seeks to involve as many parties as
possible from national, regional and international
organizations into its discussions, on an ad hoc basis, to
ensure its intersectoral and multidisciplinary dimension.
Key words characterizing the six objectives of the
Group are coordination, collaboration, harmonization,
dissemination of information and networking to create
and share knowledge. The work of the group will focus
on inventorying capacities for early warning and vulnerability
assessments, as well as related scientific and
technical issues, learning lessons and identifying shortcomings,
developing effectiveness indicators and communicating
early warning information. The group will
At the regional level, the growing economic
importance of climatic variability has prompted
WMO and other technical institutions to
reach beyond scientific research and to extend
available information to establish early warning
systems and to strengthen local risk reduction
practices. An excellent example in this area is
the series of Regional Climate Outlook
Forums (RCOFs) organized by USAID, the
United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (US/NOAA) and WMO. These
seasonal, multidisciplinary technical meetings
have brought together meteorologists, climate
forecasters and disaster managers from neighbouring
countries to review advance climate
forecast indicators jointly and then to consider
the potential implications in their respective
countries. The weather forecast data are likewise
discussed with respect to other social and
economic dimensions of governmental interest,
in an effort to develop routine opportunities by
which climatic and meteorological considerations
are integrated into disaster management,
agricultural, public health, energy, commercial
and similar interests shared by all of the participating
countries.
A review to assess the accomplishments and
shortcomings of RCOFs and recast their
future was carried out in 2000. Conclusions are
consistent with the needs identified at the Bonn
meeting, i.e. improved interlinkages among all
stakeholders involved in the early warning
process. As stated in “Coping with the Climate:
A Way Forward”, there is a need to clarify
and reinforce the current three-tiered support
structure. There is also a need to focus
and build capacity in key areas, including the
development of improved, user-tailored forecast
products in partnership with appropriate
intermediaries, broader outreach through the
media, verification of forecast products and
evaluation of forecast costs and benefits.
Development and use of forecasts will be
enhanced by “more systematic organization of
the roles and responsibilities of forum partners
including users, researchers, and operational
organizations” and by the “partnerships …
needed at all levels of the process”. Governments,
policy makers, development experts,
scientists and other interested parties are invited
to engage in a process of dialogue and programme
development needed for the management
of climatic impacts.
Technical identification and
monitoring of hazards
Scientific knowledge and monitoring capabilities
are needed to identify and forecast short to
long-term hazards. The first segment of the
early warning chain is the forecast and prediction
of hazards, which along with vulnerability
and risk information, will allow the formulation
of warning messages for intermediaries.
Until now, early warning has taken place along
the lines of singular events and hazards or
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