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Regional workshop marks the end of the SMAS project |
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 The project aiming to establish a Maghreb-wide system for early warning to drought (Système maghrébin d’alerte précoce à la sécheresse, SMAS), coordinated by OSS and implemented in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, has ended with a final workshop which took place on 17-19 august 2009 in Tunis.
Representatives of eight partner institutions took part in the closing workshop which was convened to collectively take stock of the project’s outputs and to explore avenues for the project’s achievements to be extended to other countries across the circum-Saharan region (North Africa and the Sahel). The OSS Executive Secretary, Youba Sokona, gave an opening speech in which he emphasised the importance of early warning to shield communities, livelihoods and economies from the negative impacts of a changing climate.
On the first day of the workshop, participants discussed the findings of a study of the structural vulnerability to drought in the three countries concerned by the project. The discussion touched on several themes including the concepts and methodologies used as well as the biophysical and socioeconomic factors considered in assessing vulnerability. The second day saw a hands-on training in drawing up maps of structural vulnerability. This was a highly useful exercise for participants who apprehended constraints and technical difficulties and acquainted themselves with the required tools. On the third day, participants dwelled on the project’s achievements and discussed ways of maintaining the outputs.
 In the final recommendations, participants have emphasised the need to maintain the SMAS project’s achievements and to extend them to other countries and institutions in the Arab Maghreb Union sub-region. They also underlined the importance of the Early Warning Bulletins (EWB), which have been produced under the project, and called for them to be issued on a regular basis. Participants have notably requested OSS to produce a document compiling lessons learnt and a methodological guide for the elaboration of EWBs. In line with another recommendation, the leader institution in each country is expected to organise national events which would seek to disseminate the project’s outputs and key messages to relevant audiences, notably decision makers at the relevant levels.
Based on the workshop’s recommendations, OSS intends to produce a project synthesis which will be submitted in due course to the Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU). OSS will also consider the possibility of organising, jointly with AMU, a regional meeting to showcase the project’s achievements and disseminate its outputs. |
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