• Int’l report emphasises nexus between early warning systems and long term sustainable and resilient development 

Disasters do not affect populations equally and often disproportionately affect the world’s most economically and socially vulnerable populations, as they can disrupt livelihoods, education, and economic growth and harm health and social prosperity. In this context, as a key element of disaster risk management, early warning systems (EWSs) are the set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities and organisations threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time in order to reduce the possibility of harm or loss.

Noting this, a recent report titled “Designing Inclusive, Accessible EWSs: Good Practices and Entry Points” which was issued by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), explained that early warning systems play a crucial role in promoting sustainable development by mitigating the negative impacts of disasters and other hazards. EWSs can facilitate the integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into development planning, and by identifying and addressing risks early on, they can also help to ensure that development efforts are more resilient and sustainable over the long run. The report presented key lessons and areas of good practice from specific examples, along with recommendations and entry points for inclusive, accessible EWSs.

Inclusive EWS framework

According to the report, there could be various types of inclusivity models based on, but not limited to, sex, gender, sexuality, age, race, ethnicity, caste, abilities (physical, mental and cognitive), communication forms, languages, religions and precariousness. Inclusivity factors are language, dialects and accents, translations and interpretations, cognition and interpretation related abilities, balancing information, balancing accuracy and precision, and near misses or false alarms.

With regard to actions for inclusive warnings, three main actions were explained. They are giving everyone a voice to act for warnings, learning from each other, and working together by overcoming silos and territorialism. In this regard, better data and understanding of inclusivity, secure warning based longevity strategies through trust and commitment, breaking down silos and diversifying decision making, clear, accessible and appropriate warnings across multiple channels, and connecting warning systems to preparedness and response related infrastructure, were noted.

“Diverse stakeholder networks of varying sizes are a common feature of effective EWSs. Multi-way channels of communication within the stakeholder network and an iterative design and implementation process help ensure that every perspective is heard and incorporated as the strategy evolves. This level of stakeholder engagement is challenging and perhaps not always replicable, but can be possible when guided by champions at the Local and National Government levels, with support from development partners,” it was explained, noting that Sri Lanka is one of the countries from which collaborative lessons can be drawn.

Lessons from Sri Lanka

Discussing Sri Lanka’s situation in this regard, the report noted that Sri Lanka is highly prone to extreme weather events, with an increasing trend of flooding, and an estimated 87% of the population living in areas prone to moderate to severe flooding, while by 2050, it is projected that climate change will result in a 1.2% loss in the annual gross domestic product of the country. The report analysed Sri Lanka’s “Climate Resilience Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach” initiative, which is a project designed, among other objectives, to enhance the country’s capacity to deliver climate and weather related information, including by improving the EWS. Presenting several key lessons and best practices that could be obtained from this initiative, the report explained that establishing a community early warning committee can help determine the needs of specific people, particularly those traditionally difficult to reach. Committees should be trained to read the signs of impending extreme weather events such as rising water levels, and these committees should represent vulnerable groups. It further explained that connections between the committee members and Government officials should be encouraged in order to enable the advocacy of the community’s needs for early warnings. In addition, noting that multiple types of channels should be used to deliver warning related messages, including the television, social media, and text messages, it was explained that technological advances that can help translate messages, generate captions, and read text out loud should be used, among other innovations that can increase inclusivity. In this process, community members should also be trained to understand, use, and respond to warnings. Capacity building workshops should be tailored to the needs of various vulnerable community groups, while drills and other trainings should be conducted specifically for vulnerable groups, as well as the wider public.

In Sri Lanka’s case, several key success factors had also been observed. Explaining these, the report said: “Developing an up to date, secure social registry of vulnerable people, including contact information, locations, and specific needs that can be shared appropriately with multiple types of organisations such as Local Government agencies, non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) and first responders is critical, although strict ethical standards must be adhered to when handling sensitive information, particularly when certain groups may be subject to discrimination or insecurity.”

Engaging the Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach, which enables a nation to divide a complex project into a set of smaller, consecutive operations or phases, under one programme also provides space for learning and adaptation, with each phase incorporating lessons from the last and ensuring programme based responsiveness to changing country circumstances, according to the report. It further said that the said initiative should be aligned with the medium and long term development related objectives of the Sri Lankan Government in order to ensure its commitment to the programme and to the overall disaster risk management and resilience agenda.

Recommendations

The report put forward a number of recommendations to ensure inclusive, systematic and effective EWSs. With regard to overarching recommendations, the report noted several characteristics of inclusive, accessible EWSs that were consistent across the case studies that it analysed. Such systems are long term social processes, use multiple channels, modes, and messages that are clear, transparent, consistent, and credible, and are relevant to everyone, covering a range of timeframes and geographic coverage, and connect all governance levels, including local, national, and international. They also require including the needs of different social groups to respond to multiple hazards, sequences, and cascading events, and extend beyond warning dissemination to include damage prevention, mitigation actions, and response conditions in order to ensure the capacity to act, and to facilitate early and anticipatory action, which also reduces inequalities and inequities regardless of the hazard. Under this, the report recommended engaging diverse communities and stakeholders from the beginning, integrating iteration and adaptive learning methods, and supporting initiatives and activities that create an enabling environment. More recommendations were proposed in connection with disaster risk knowledge (data and open access information), adding: “Seeking good quality, comprehensive data supports top down approaches to warnings, as well as bottom up initiatives. Authorities need data to understand the needs and capabilities of populations, and populations need data to better understand hazards, forecasting, risks, and how best to protect themselves.” Among the measures that were recommended in order to increase access to data and increase understanding of inclusivity were using guidelines such as those that the United Nations, the World Bank, the GFDRR, other development partners, and prominent inclusivity working groups publish, filling in data gaps on marginalised populations, ensuring that data collection includes information on vulnerable groups as well as descriptive information to understand the underlying aspects of vulnerability that persons most susceptible to disaster risks face, and considering storytelling methodologies that community based organisations use to include marginalised voices and inform early warning planning. Another recommendation was providing education opportunities for women, community groups and leaders, and other marginalised communities on understanding weather and climate. With regard to diversity, collaboration and commitment concerning detections, observations, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting, it was recommended to secure long term commitment to warnings through trust and funding. Modernising early warning related infrastructure including digitising data, and providing funding for inclusive warnings to ensure long term continuity, regardless of political (e.g. change of Government), environmental (e.g. change in hazards), social (e.g. movement of people and changing community demographics), and livelihood changes, were the two recommendations proposed to achieve it.  The report recommended ensuring that clear, accessible, consistent and appropriate warnings are provided through multiple channels and platforms with regard to warning dissemination and communication, and connect EWSs to preparedness and response based infrastructure with regard to the preparedness and response related capability.