The Ready2Act project, led by CIMA Research Foundation, aims to strengthenthe Early Warning System in Mozambique through technology transfer, training, and institutional strengthening developed with INGD. The launching event is held in Maputo on June 18 and 19.
The Ready2Act project is underway: the official opening event is held in Maputo (Mozambique) on June 18 and 19, with a workshop dedicated to Early Warning and Disaster Preparedness.
In Mozambique, climate emergencies are recurrent and further exacerbated by the climate crisis. The country is among the 30 priorities for the EW4All Initiative, launched by the United Nations in 2022, which aims to protect all people from disasters with Early Warning Systems (EWS) by 2027. The National Institute for Disaster Management of Mozambique (Instituto Nacional de Gestão e Redução do Risco de Desastres, INGD) is strengthening its EWS with a reorganization of the legal framework and various projects, improving specific components of the system, in collaboration with the Water Resources Management Institute and the National Meteorology Institute. However, it is necessary to continue strengthening and institutionalizing the national early warning and action system, bringing it to the local level.
The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) supports this goal with the two-year Ready2Act project: Enhancing Coordination Mechanisms and Disaster Preparedness Capacities in Mozambique . The project aims to reinforce Mozambique’s EWS through technology transfer, training, and institutional capacity development with INGD. Led by CIMA Research Foundation, with local support from WeWorld and strategic guidance from the Italian Civil Protection Department, Ready2Act promotes inter-institutional coordination at all levels in disaster preparedness and response, particularly for water-related disasters.
“Our collaboration with Mozambique began in 2015, when we provided the scientific contribution on the flood component in the development of the country risk profile for the World Bank. In 2020, we worked with the Italian NGO WeWorld on ECHO funding, providing our technical support in the risk reduction activities carried out by WeWorld in the provinces of Manica and Cabo Delgado. These projects initiated a fruitful dialogue with INGD and the Italian Civil Protection Department, leading to the definition of the Ready2Act project. I would like to thank AICS, which has promoted and directed this dialogue, funding the initiative and framing it within Italy’s continental commitment to disaster preparedness and rapid response, including theAMHEWAS programme carried out with UNDRR and the African Union,” says Luca Ferraris, president of CIMA Research Foundation.
The project is structured into two components. The first is dedicated to promoting interinstitutional coordination mechanisms at all levels in the preparation and response to natural disasters, particularly those related to water. To this end, Ready2Act organizes events for exchanging experiences, best practices, and lessons learned among the various actors involved in disaster risk reduction at national and supranational levels. It also provides for the modernization of equipment and functions of INGD’s National Emergency Operations Center (CENOE) and a local situation room in a central province of Mozambique, also promoting connection with the supranational level through the SHOC (SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre) situation room, part of the AMHEWAS network. The sharing of warnings and interinstitutional coordination will also be analyzed and deepened through participatory planning and the implementation of a multilevel civil protection exercise.
The second component of Ready2Act aims to strengthen the monitoring, forecasting, and warning capacities for extreme hydrometeorological events, promoting the link between early warnings and early action. To this end, the project provides the Water Resources Management Institute (Direcção Nacional de Gestão de Recursos Hídricos, DNGRH) with a nationwide flood forecasting operational chain. It also strengthens the myDEWETRA platform, used by INGD, by integrating new risk data and developing IT components dedicated to real-time risk scenario assessment and the compilation and issuance of warnings with multisectoral contributions. Based on the results of previous actions, this component also works on using risk information for civil protection planning, both in terms of annual programming ahead of the rainy season and operational links between warnigs and timely actions immediately following a calamitous event.
A two-day workshop in Maputo on June 18 and 19 will officially kick off the project activities. Organized by INGD, CIMA Research Foundation, and WeWorld with the support of the Italian Civil Protection Department, AICS, and the Italian Embassy, the event aims to strengthen coordination among all actors involved in disaster risk reduction. The event represents an opportunity to discuss how to enhance coordination among all actors involved in disaster prevention, preparedness, and response phases, from the supranational to the local level.