The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was adopted by 187 United Nations (UN) Member States on 18 March 2015, at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in Sendai, Japan, and endorsed by the UN General Assembly in June 2015, with the expected outcome of a “substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries” over the following 15 years.
During the negotiations, countries and partners highlighted the need to:
- Continue to invest in, develop, maintain and strengthen people-centred, end-to-end early warning systems;
- Promote the application of simple and low cost early warning equipment and facilities;
- Broaden the dissemination channels for early warning information to facilitate early action.
Countries also called for the further development of and investment in effective, nationally compatible, regional multi-hazard early warning mechanisms. To address these needs, global Target (g) of the Sendai Framework was adopted, namely to “substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to the people by 2030”.
International recognition of the importance of, and investing in, early warning systems was also reflected in both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” and SDG 13 “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts” set targets for governments to strengthen early warning systems. The Paris Climate Agreement, Article 7 on enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change” and Article 8 on loss and damage also place greater emphasis on strengthening early warning systems.
Read more: MHEWC-II Concept Note - March 2019
Objectives
With the goal of continuing to advocate for the implementation and improvement of multi-hazard early warning systems worldwide, the objectives of the MHEWC-II are to:
1. Highlight and advocate for:
- A comprehensive multi-hazard approach to early warning governance that is based on effective national legislation, and regulatory framework, institutional partnerships, that benefit from regional and global support mechanisms and encompasses urban and rural populations, women and men, older people and youth, people with disabilities, etc.;
- Regulatory frameworks and policies;
- The development, access and use of the best science and new technologies to underpin all components of an multi-hazard early warning systems;
- Co-design of early warning systems and the generation and use of sound risk information and advisory and warning messages tailored to the different needs of specific groups, including mechanisms to integrate local and indigenous knowledge and to provide feedback learning for system improvement;
- Learning from good practices in early warning, including in those areas such as monitoring, forecasting and risk communication that leverage the latest technologies and standards (e.g. communication and information technologies, mobile phone solutions, social media, standards such as the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) for all hazards alerting);
- Strengthening the Early Warning/ Early Action (EWEA) chain, taking on an impact-based forecasting approach in early warning to enable organizations and communities to formulate understandable and actionable messages and take respective preparedness and response measures.
2. Take stock of the progress made by governments with:
- Integrating/synergizing single-hazard early warning systems in their country toward a more comprehensive multi-hazard approach;
- Implementing the Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems: A Checklist as a standard framework, adopting system-based thinking;
- Engaging the private sector and the civil society as partners in the operation of multi-hazard early warning systems as a way to ensure their long-term sustainability.
- Reporting on/Achieving Target (g) of the Sendai Framework and related approaches and challenges, using the Sendai Framework Monitor and guided by the Technical Guidance for Monitoring and Reporting on Progress in Achieving the Global Targets of the Sendai Framework;
- Assessing the effectiveness of multi-hazard early warning systems and the return on investment;
3. Identify:
- Requirements and challenges that governments have in the development and implementation of people-centred, end-to-end and multi-hazard early warning systems (including capturing cascading effects of hazards/disasters) that ensure interoperability with local to national scales as well as transboundary regional scales;
- Opportunities and current limitations for trans-disciplinary research (e.g. new developments in the area of socio-hydrology) to progress in the development of observation and monitoring systems, the use of Big Data, including satellite-based data, data-driven modelling and the strengthening of capacities to leverage the latest information and communication technology (e.g. social media) particularly for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Land-locked Developing Countries (LLDCs);
- How governments finance the implementation or strengthening of multi-hazard early warning systems as a way to reach Target (g) of the Sendai Framework;
- Policy-relevant advice on incorporation of multi-hazard early warning systems concepts into national and local disaster risk reduction strategies to contribute to the implementation of Target (e) of the Sendai Framework.