WMO is working with the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DHM) and the Center for Applied Research and Development (CARD) in Nepal to strengthen early warning systems for floods and other disasters frequently faced by the country.
On 24 and 25 April, WMO led a workshop on the implementation of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) bringing together more than 35 people from DHM, CARD, disaster management, Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Pillar leads , and the Nepal Red Cross. Participants left the workshop with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop standardized warning messages in CAP format, and to communicate anticipatory or response actions for various stakeholders to save lives and livelihoods.
During the workshop, a draft national implementation plan, including Standard Operating Procedures on CAP messages and dissemination were agreed to be developed. An expert from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) was also present to provide necessary technical support to DHM, bringing lessons learned from IMD's successful implementation and operationalization of CAP.
WMO will continue to support DHM with the operationalization of CAP for hydrometeorological hazards, sharing CAP compliant warnings on the Severe Weather Information Centre , a core component of the Early Warnings for All Initiative.
On 27 April, a workshop on Integrated and Community Based Flood Management was organized for 25 participants from national and international organizations as well as local authorities to build knowledge and awareness on different approaches for managing flooding situations.
The workshop provided insights on integrated flood management and its applications, allowed participants to share information on causes and impacts of flooding, and identified ongoing activities and projects which are strengthening community resilience to flooding events in Nepal.
As a result of the workshop, two municipalities were selected for implementing prioritized community-based flood management activities jointly with DHM, disaster management authorities, and other stakeholders.
These activities are funded by the CREWS EW4ALL multi-stakeholder accelerator in LDCs and SIDS project .
Finally, a high-level meeting with DHM allowed for the finalization of the WMO Assessment Matrix on the End-to-End Early Warning System (EWS) for Floods and drought. The meeting provided an understanding of current capacities, gaps, and needs for strengthening EWS in Nepal. These discussions and recommendations will inform the final proposal of a new Adaptation Fund project , set to launch later this year.
