In February 2024, CIMA Research Foundation, at the request of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), began collaborating on the Water at the Heart of Climate Action Project (WHCA), an initiative dedicated to mitigating water-related risks and strengthening resilience of vulnerable communities in Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.
The project is coordinated by WMO, UNDRR and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), working in synergy under the umbrella of the Center of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience (CoE). The synergy is further strengthened by the multi-partner financing mechanism Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) of the United Nations.
WHCA revolves around five main technical areas:
- Water risk knowledge and management: accelerate investments in risk-based decision making;
- Observation, monitoring and forecasting of meteorological and hydrological events: enhance existing regional, national and local hydro-meteorological capabilities;
- Water-specific Early Warning Systems (dissemination and communication): reduce the disconnect between communities and early warning systems at national and regional levels;
- Preventive action and locally-led adaptation: integrate preventive action with longer-term actions aimed at improving the climate resilience of communities with a user-centred approach (“End to End”);
- Transversal activities: guarantee innovative and multidisciplinary forms of learning and efficient knowledge management.
The general objective is to support national, regional and local actors for a more effective and efficient management of water-related risks, starting from the consideration that the water crisis in Africa is inextricably linked to the climate crisis. . To address these risks, therefore, it is necessary to change the current “systemic approach”: in this context the project intends, in an extremely short timeframe (by July 2024), to first analyze (also with local consultations with main stakeholders) the existing situation, in the 5 African countries indicated above, of tools and capabilities for managing flood and drought risks with a priority focus linked to Pillar n.2 (Detection, observation, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting) of the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) strategy, a pillar coordinated at an international level by WMO.
After the analysis phase, which will highlight the major strengths and weaknesses of the current system, the drafting of an Action Plan is expected, which will be validated on a specific workshop organized in the area, with implementation proposals about the main measures (including organizational ones) and operational tools for improving the current capabilities of forecasting and preventing flood and drought risks in the Nile river basin, taking into account other initiatives, also planned, in the area.
The final part of the project is about implementing and proposing data visualization and decision support platform myDEWETRA.world (loading the main available information layers), a tool capable of promoting a multidisciplinary, shared and participatory approach among entities involved and in charge about Climate Change adaptation issues (since full collaboration among all the sectors dealing with water resources, disasters and climate, traditionally, is not at all to be taken for granted or guaranteed).
CIMA Research Foundation’s contribution
As part of the WHCA project, CIMA Research Foundation is tasked with coordinating, in collaboration with WMO and project partners, consultations with national and transboundary entities in the involved countries to identify current capabilities and needs for strengthening the Early Warning System: based on the consultations, an action plan for flood forecasting and drought monitoring and prediction will be developed, which will be validated through a workshop where feedback from stakeholders will be collected.
CIMA Research Foundation is also responsible for implementing the myDEWETRA.world forecasting and monitoring platform in the project countries, collaborating with their respective national hydrometeorological services.
