Funded by UNDRR, the project aims to improve risk reduction and preparedness, institutionally and operationally, in four Indian Ocean Island states: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles.
The project is part of the Resilience Building and Disaster Response Management in the Indian Ocean (RDRM-IO) program, co-funded by the European Union and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), with the objective of reducing disaster losses in IOC member states. Indian Ocean Island states are vulnerable to different types of hazards, from geophysical ones such as tsunamis to biological ones, of which COVID-19 is just one example. Hydrometeorological disasters such as floods and droughts, in particular, are exacerbated by mechanisms such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean dipole, which often add up causing cascading effects, further exacerbated by social and economic factors, such as the presence of conflicts.
In this context, UNDRR is working in the RDRM-IO program with the objective of improving risk reduction and preparedness, institutionally and operationally, in four Indian Ocean Island states. The focus of the project is the analysis of multi-hazard Early Warning for Early and Anticipatory Action Systems (EW-EAAS): planned activities therefore also include the evaluation and testing of Early Warning Systems (EWS) in the countries involved. The chosen approach combines the development of an EWS evaluation tool with Tabletop exercises (TTX); the evaluation tool will be based on both existing tools developed by project partners and tools under development as part of the EW4All Initiative, which aims to reach the entire global population with EWS by 2027, a goal that the project itself supports.
The assessments will then be used by the project partners to test Standard Operative Procedures (SOPs) within the various national multi-hazard EW-EAAS through Tabletop and Simulation exercises (TTX/SIMEX).
The directions made by UNDRR during the project will form the basis on which to direct the activities of the RDRM-IO program.
In addition to contributing to the EW4All Initiative, the project also supports the ongoing implementation of the Africa Road Map for Improving the Availability, Accessibility, and Use of Disaster Risk Information for Early Warning and Early Action.
CIMA Research Foundation’s contribution
Within the project, CIMA Research Foundation has been tasked by UNDRR to define and implement an evaluation methodology for EW-EAAS, combining a theoretical approach (the development of an evaluation tool) with an operational one—through the planning and execution of Tabletop exercises (TTX).
The evaluation tool focuses on the four components of an EWS: (1) risk knowledge, (2) monitoring and forecasting, (3) communication and dissemination and (4) preparedness and capacity to respond. It requirea an analysis of existing assessment tools (from CIMA, WMO, UNDRR and other organizations) and harmonization with EW4All Minimum Core Capability Checklist together with the ongoing process related to Risk Knowledge for EW4ALL. Furthermore, the methodology guides the integration of the TTX results of in the assessment. The tool also includes: a guide for mapping and analyzing institutional EW-EAAS and the chain of responsibilities in each country, covering legal, policy, and strategic frameworks, as well as SOPs and national command chains for EW-EAAS; a guide for mapping and analyzing the availability and use of risk information for preparedness and EW-EAAS in each country.
Moreover, the tool also guides the assessment of equipment needed by NDMA to effectively facilitate exchange of information and operation of an EW-EAAS.
CIMA Research Foundation leads the activities in Madagascar and Seychelles, while contributing to activities in Comoros and Mauritius.
