The UN Secretary-General's Early Warnings for All Initiative (EW4All) is rapidly gaining ground. Action plans are being rolled out around the world to ensure that people know when dangerous weather is headed their way.
Tajikistan has held a two-day national consultation, co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and the UN Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan, and bringing together key stakeholders from state and international organizations, media and civil society. Ethiopia also held an inception workshop.
There was active involvement from the lead agencies of four pillars of the Early Warnings for All Initiative: the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The series of national consultations kicked off in July with a meeting in Maldives in the Indian Ocean. An Early Warnings for All Action Plan in Africa will be launched at the Africa Climate Summit in Kenya on 4 September. The Early Warnings for All initiative will be showcased at the Climate Ambition Summit in September in New York and at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023.
Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan, Mr. Sulaimon Ziyozoda, highlighted his government's commitment to climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and the call of the United Nations Secretary-General to protect everyone with early warning systems.
"Coordination of activities of different sectors and stakeholders, involvement of communities at risk, availability of favorable institutional and legislative environment, clear distribution of roles and responsibilities - all these are necessary to create effective and consistent early warning systems," he said.
Tajikistan is faced with the frequent occurrence of natural hazards, such as avalanches, earthquakes, floods, mudflows, and landslides, with climate change further exacerbating their impacts. Glacier melt increases short-term water-related hazards and threatens long-term water security. Water is therefore at the heart of the Early Warnings for All planning.
UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Parvathy Ramaswami, said the launch of the Early Warnings for All initiative is "a crucial step forward in safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of Tajik communities from the impacts of climate change and other risks", adding that "a whole-of-society approach involving all stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, will be critical for strengthening and sustaining the early warning services in the country."
The Early Warnings for All initiative will build improved resilience to such risks, with support provided across four interconnected pillars of EW4All: disaster risk knowledge; detection, observation, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting; warning dissemination and communication; and preparedness and response capabilities.
Representatives from relevant ministries, government agencies and development partners presented current advancements in implementing early warning systems in Tajikistan. They collectively identified challenges and prioritized strategies to expand the coverage, integration, and effectiveness of EWS.
Participants also engaged in technical discussions, and a mapping and a comprehensive gap analysis exercise, drawing from prior assessments, to identify the critical gaps and priority needs for support across the four pillars. They agreed on a coordination mechanism and on developing an action plan for the initiative's implementation.
Background
Globally one third of citizens are still not covered by early warning systems. The EW4All Action Plan was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) held in Egypt in November 2022 for further investment across disaster risk knowledge, observations and forecasting, preparedness and response, and communication of early warnings, with particularly priority placed on vulnerable communities.
The Early Warnings for All Initiative calls for a global effort to ensure that such systems protect everyone on Earth by 2027. Early Warning Systems, supported by preparedness and early action, are a proven, effective, and feasible disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation measure, that save lives and provide a tenfold return on investment. Yet, major gaps in early warning systems remain globally, especially when it comes to translating early warnings into risk-informed early action.
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