{"id":11151,"date":"2024-06-07T13:11:42","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T12:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/tema\/africa\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:16:33","slug":"africa","status":"publish","type":"focus","link":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/focus\/early-warning-systems\/africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS IN AFRICA<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As is well known, the risk of disasters is extremely high in Africa, and the climate crisis has made certain phenomena, such as floods and droughts, more frequent and intense. In recent years, in fact, intense rains and floods have affected many African countries, as evidenced by the data on the most significant extreme events of recent years, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes, jobs, and schools. Water-related risks exist even when water is scarce: droughts also affect an increasingly large part of the African population. In 2018, only about 40% of the African population had access to alert systems or Early Warning Systems (EWS): which translated into much higher losses. This leads to an even higher risk scenario, in which the lives and well-being of people are severely threatened. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Fig. 1 \u2013 Alluvioni e siccit\u00e0: i dati degli eventi estremi pi\u00f9 significativi dal 2000 al 2023.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 2018, under the commission of UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), CIMA Research Foundation created risk profiles<\/a> to estimate the impacts of floods and droughts on current and future climates, as well as on the socio-economic projection of 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Given the scientifically predicted high vulnerability of the continent and thus the need for an adequate early warning system, a ten-year Road Map<\/a> for the implementation of the Africa Multi Hazard Early Warning and Early Action System \u2013 AMHEWAS was approved in 2020, under the initiative of the President of the African Union Commission (AUC). The primary objective is to increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems<\/strong>, focused on different types of risks, taking into account their possible compound effects.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Starting from the review of the legal and institutional framework, the mechanisms for coordination and information and data exchange have been established between different administrative and operational levels (continental, national, regional). With the contribution of CIMA Research Foundation, which has closely followed its implementation, there is now a network of centers for forecasting, data analysis, monitoring, and response to hydrometeorological risks<\/strong>. These centers operate 24\/7 and represent the operational core of the system.
The network of existing centers uses the myDEWETRA platform, developed by CIMA Research Foundation for the Italian Civil Protection Department, which today integrates and collates an enormous amount of real-time data for monitoring and forecasting severe events worldwide. The results are then communicated to the various system actors through standardized warning bulletins<\/a>, based on which early response actions (Early Action) are deployed to mitigate the impacts. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCONTINENTAL WATCH\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTWICE A WEEK<\/b>\n
FORECASTS (UP TO FIVE DAYS) ON WINDS, INTENSE PRECIPITATION, AND FLOODS\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAFRICA DROUGHT WATCH\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEVERY MONTH<\/b>

IMPACT-BASED
INFORMATION FOR DROUGHT RISK\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEMERGENCY SITUATION REPORT\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIN CASE OF AN ONGOING OR IMPEDING SIGNIFICANT EVENTS<\/b>

DETAILED OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS IMPACTS\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Each of these tools is the result of a collaboration involving experts from both the Continental Situation Room, located at the African Union Commission headquarters in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and the regional Situation Rooms, who provide local hydrometeorological information. The bulletins are then distributed to the various national authorities that are mandated to issue alerts to the population.
The entire process receives unwavering technical and scientific support from UNDRR experts and CIMA Research Foundation, which is also committed to train the local personnel operating to ensure their full autonomy.<\/p>

Among the impacts we analyze for floods and droughts, we carry out research studies on the risk stemming from displacement<\/strong>, i.e., the forced migration of people, which can occur in the wake of a disaster. On this topic, we work together with the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in many regions around the world, including the Greater Horn of Africa.<\/p>

Furthermore, since 2023, the Italian government, as part of the EW4All Initiative, has financed, through UNDRR and with the scientific support of CIMA Research Foundation, the creation of a Network of Excellence (NOE) <\/a>for risk reduction in Africa. The initiative aims to create a network of excellence\u2014similar to the Italian network of competence centers\u2014to bring together centers of African and international experts, becoming a platform for exchange among research centers, specialized agencies, universities, and risk management authorities. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In addition to these continent-wide initiatives, CIMA Research Foundation is active in Africa with many other projects. Always closely collaborating with local entities, some of these projects have had to deal with complex geopolitical situations, such as the conflict in Sudan<\/a>, where we were (and still are) engaged in strengthening the country\u2019s technical and operational capacities for disaster prevention and management. Many projects share the general goal of enhancing disaster risk prevention, management, and resilience (such as the WHCA \u2013 Water at the Heart of Climate Action Project<\/a> and Ready2Act<\/a>), through strategies that include training, technology transfer<\/strong>, and the fostering of cooperation and collaboration<\/strong>. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Flood, drought and fire projects to date have involved 36 African countries<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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