Translating

Climate Information
Into Action
Early Warning, Early Action
in the West and Central
Africa Zone

Meaghan Daly
Humanitarian Climate Risk
Management Workshop
23 February, 2010
Partnership to Save Lives

Since 2007…

“Tools and support to

improve humanitarian
preparedness and
decision-making
through climate
information”
 The Federation Map Room
Precipitation forecasts for:
Next 24 hours Context for
Next 6 days
decisions
Next 3 months
 Early Action Across
Time Scales?
READY!
Seasonal
• Pre-position Stocks
• Train Volunteers SET!
• Sensitize Community
• Enable EWS Mid-Range
• Mobilize Assessment Team
• Alert Volunteers GO!
• Warn Community
• Local Preparation Activities Short-Range
• Deploy Assessment Team
• Activate Volunteers
• Evacuate Community
 Bridging the Gap
• Identifying available climate info tools
• Developing capacity to use the tools
• Building partnership with climate info producers
• Communicating the needs of the IFRC
 Putting Climate Info to Work

• 2008 Floods in West

and Central Africa
• Clear forecast signal
• Advanced appeal for
funding
• Preparedness
• Reduced response time
• Fewer lives lost
> 50% chance of
extreme
precipitation
50% chance of
above average
precipitation
Early Warning, Early Action in 2008
• Pre-emptive funding appeal for zone
• 9 national contingency plans
READY! • 30% more volunteers trained in Togo
• Pre-position stocks in for 7,500 people
• Enabled EWS in Togo

• Filled sand bags in Senegal

SET! • Dam release warning in Togo
• Response Teams deployable within 48 hours
GO!
• Assessment teams alerted and deployed
GO! • Successful evacuation of community in Togo
• Appeal submitted within 48 hours in Gambia
 2008 vs. 2007

Preliminary findings…

• Fewer lives lost: from 30+ to 2

• Reduced response time: from 40 to 2 days
• Costs reduced: estimated 33% savings
Community Based
Early Warning
Keys
to
Success
• Forecast consensus
• Forecast context
• No-regrets strategies
• Monitoring across time-scales
• Training and communication
• Regional partnerships
Looking Ahead
• Cautious interpretation
• Forecast focal points
• EW>EA capacity
• Institutional learning
• Evaluation

Remember that this is a process!

 Thank you.

mdaly@climatecentre.org