The W-Arly Pendjari Complex establishes an Early Warning System to face the flood, drought and wildfire risks

The regional training workshop on the establishment of the W-Arly-Pendjari complex Multi-risk Early Warning System (MR-EWS), took place on October 16-18, 2023 in Tunis, with the presence of Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, Executive Secretary of the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) who underlined the crucial importance of developing MR-EWS in preventing disaster risks and reaffirmed the OSS commitment to supporting countries in this process. “Building a strong collaboration is highly important for our efforts to succeed,” he said.

Ms. Fatou Mar, Land Department Coordinator at the OSS, recalled that the participatory process allowed to move ahead with the works of the system, taking into account the specificities of the region and meeting the concrete needs of the partners from the three countries. She added that despite the many challenges, collaborative work with all stakeholders made it possible to successfully complete the first steps and to come up with a solid and sustainable tool.

The training workshop aims to build the capacities of the EWS management units at the national and regional level. This initiative will enable effective takeover and ownership of the system, thus contributing to avoiding disaster risks and emergency situations linked to climate change in the WAP complex.

The Multi-Risk Early Warning System (MR-EWS) is one of the main components of the AdaptWAP project. It will provide relevant information for decision-making and the identification of appropriate responses to extreme climate events such as drought, floods and wildfires. The system will help protect ecosystems, preserve human lives and improve people’s livelihoods.