GAR 2015 Main Report

155

By the time of the Second International Conference on Early Warning, which was held in Germany in 2003, this systems approach to early warning had become orthodox and influenced national legislation such as the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-430) in the United States of America.1

Further momentum for the development of early warning systems was generated by the Indian Ocean tsunamis in 2004, which highlighted how many lives could have been saved if a regional tsunami early warning system had existed. As a consequence, early warning featured heavily on the agenda of the Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005 and was given heavy emphasis in the HFA, which reprises the emerging early warning systems concept in key activities within Priority for Action 2 (Box 8.1).

Government self-assessment reports prepared using the HFA Monitor show significant progress against the third core indicator under Priority for Action 2: Early warning systems are in place for all major hazards, with outreach to communities

(Figure 8.1). Each biennial reporting period since 2007 has shown growing achievement, although the indicator is too generic to capture how much progress has actually been made against each of the key activities listed above.

The development and implementation of early warning systems has been repeatedly cited as one of the areas where the most progress has been made within the HFA (WMO, 2011

WMO (World Meteorological Organization). 2011,Institutional Partnerships in Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems, A Compilation of Seven National Good Practices and Guiding Principles. Golnaraghi, Maryam, ed. Springer.. .

, 2014a; UNISDR, 2013b

UNISDR. 2013b,Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, Summary of Reports 2007-2013. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. .

, 2011b). Success stories from Bangladesh, Chile, India, the Philippines and other countries show that timely and effective warning and communication coupled with risk information and a prepared population significantly reduces mortality. The Third International Conference on Early Warning, which was held in Germany in 2006 took advantage of the momentum generated by the HFA and, under the slogan From concept to action, documented over one hundred initiatives to develop early warning systems at different levels (UNISDR and Government of Germany, 2006

UNISDR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) and Government of Germany. 2006,Developing Early Warning Systems: A Checklist, EWC III: Third International Conference on Early Warning. From concept to action. 27-29 March 2006, Bonn.. .

In particular, HFA progress reports highlight success in developing early warning systems that correspond more closely to local needs. For example, Australia reports that every state and territory now has the ability to tailor core messages to fit local conditions and evacuation plans. In Sri Lanka, a people-centred early warning system was established that includes teams of volunteers using local communication methods. In Thailand, volunteers have been trained at the village level to monitor hazards and transmit early warnings in a timely manner.

Technical, institutional and social challenges in developing and maintaining these systems are often reported in conjunction with the remoteness of villages and difficulties of terrain, making outreach to the last mile difficult. Many countries also note financial constraints and limited

HFA Core Indicator 2.3: Multi-hazard early warning system with community outreach.

(Source: UNISDR with data from the HFA Monitor.2)

Figure 8.1 Progress in early warning

	155 By the time of the Second International Conference on Early Warning, which was held in Germany in 2003, this systems approach to early warning had become orthodox and influenced national legislation such as the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-430) in the United States of America.1 Further momentum for the development of early warning systems was generated by the Indian Ocean tsunamis in 2004, which highlighted how many lives could have been saved if a regional tsunami early warning system had existed. As a consequence, early warning featured heavily on the agenda of the Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005 and was given heavy emphasis in the HFA, which reprises the emerging early warning systems concept in key activities within Priority for Action 2 (Box 8.1). Government self-assessment reports prepared using the HFA Monitor show significant progress against the third core indicator under Priority for Action 2: Early warning systems are in place for all major hazards, with outreach to communities (Figure 8.1). Each biennial reporting period since 2007 has shown growing achievement, although the indicator is too generic to capture how much progress has actually been made against each of the key activities listed above. The development and implementation of early warning systems has been repeatedly cited as one of the areas where the most progress has been made within the HFA (WMO, 2011 x WMO (World Meteorological Organization). 2011,Institutional Partnerships in Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems, A Compilation of Seven National Good Practices and Guiding Principles. Golnaraghi, Maryam, ed. Springer.. . , 2014a; UNISDR, 2013b x UNISDR. 2013b,Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, Summary of Reports 2007-2013. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. . , 2011b). Success stories from Bangladesh, Chile, India, the Philippines and other countries show that timely and effective warning and communication coupled with risk information and a prepared population significantly reduces mortality. The Third International Conference on Early Warning, which was held in Germany in 2006 took advantage of the momentum generated by the HFA and, under the slogan From concept to action, documented over one hundred initiatives to develop early warning systems at different levels (UNISDR and Government of Germany, 2006 x UNISDR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) and Government of Germany. 2006,Developing Early Warning Systems: A Checklist, EWC III: Third International Conference on Early Warning. From concept to action. 27-29 March 2006, Bonn.. . ). In particular, HFA progress reports highlight success in developing early warning systems that correspond more closely to local needs. For example, Australia reports that every state and territory now has the ability to tailor core messages to fit local conditions and evacuation plans. In Sri Lanka, a people-centred early warning system was established that includes teams of volunteers using local communication methods. In Thailand, volunteers have been trained at the village level to monitor hazards and transmit early warnings in a timely manner. Technical, institutional and social challenges in developing and maintaining these systems are often reported in conjunction with the remoteness of villages and difficulties of terrain, making outreach to the last mile difficult. Many countries also note financial constraints and limited HFA Core Indicator 2.3: Multi-hazard early warning system with community outreach. (Source: UNISDR with data from the HFA Monitor.2) Figure 8.1 Progress in early warning	Page 1 Page 10 Page 20 Page 30 Page 40 Page 50 Page 60 Page 70 Page 80 Page 90 Page 100 Page 110 Page 120 Page 130 Page 140 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 148 Page 149 Page 150 Page 151 Page 152 Page 153 Page 154 Page 155 Page 156 ->Page 157 Page 158 Page 159 Page 160 Page 161 Page 162 Page 163 Page 164 Page 165 Page 166 Page 167 Page 168 Page 169 Page 170 Page 180 Page 190 Page 200 Page 210 Page 220 Page 230 Page 240 Page 250 Page 260 Page 270 Page 280 Page 290 Page 300 Page 310