Somalia is an extremely vulnerable country to phenomena such as floods and droughts, which are aggravated in frequency and intensity by climate change. In this context, strengthening Early Warning Systems (EWS) and the resilience of responsible authorities and communities is particularly urgent. The project aims to contribute to reinforcing the national capacities and coordination of meteorological and hydrological services.
The project, part of the broader Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative, has concrete objectives in Somalia: strengthening national meteorological and hydrological forecasting services, improving current risk assessment capacities for warning purposes, creating an integrated web system for managing EWS-related information, and enhancing the capacity of Somali authorities to develop the crucial link between Early Warning and Early Action. This means transforming warning information into preventive civil protection actions, rather than merely activating civil protection structures during a disaster or emergency or reacting only after a disaster has occurred.
CIMA Research Foundation’s contribution
Commissioned by UNDRR, CIMA Research Foundation serves as the technical-scientific support partner for the project implementation. After evaluating the current meteorological and hydrological services operating in Somalia, it identifies areas for improvement. In agreement with the involved authorities and project partners, the available and useful tools and datasets are identified and considered effective for inclusion in myDEWETRA.world, the web platform supporting the phases of real-time forecasting and monitoring of natural phenomena, to be implemented at the national level to ensure the connection with AMHEWAS, the African multi-hazard early warning system. Alongside the platform implementation, CIMA Research Foundation also develops, in co-design mode with stakeholders, an app for creating warning bulletins to allow effective dissemination of warnings for civil protection purposes.
CIMA Research Foundation also conducts an analysis of existing information on flood and drought risks, assessing the existing risk profiles in Somalia and integrating them with exposure types currently absent but considered strategic by the main involved Somali stakeholders. Integrating this information into myDEWETRA.world enables the implementation of impact-based forecasts (IBF), an essential operational tool to allow effective Early Action in the field. To promote the link between Early Warning and Early Action, a coordinated activation process starting from warnings, both structured training (based on the guide developed within the IPAFF project) and a TTX exercise are organized to test the enhanced EWS thanks to the project.
All these project activities are accompanied by training Somali operators in the use of myDEWETRA.world and the creation of warning bulletins, enabling autonomous use of these tools.
To exchange good practices and concretely increase interest and cooperation, CIMA also collaborates on organizing a visit to Italy by a Somali delegation dedicated to the Italian civil protection system at the national level (Department of Civil Protection in Rome), regional level (Civil Protection Center of the Umbria Region in Foligno), municipal level (Municipality of Genoa), and at the CIMA Research Foundation headquarters (Savona).
