Dr. Isaac Kadono Mwalwimba.
Centre for Environmental Affairs,
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies,
The Catholic University of Malawi.
- Background
Early warning systems (EWSs) save lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure and support long-term sustainability. The United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) calls for “EWSs to reach everybody within the next 5 years (2023-2027)”. Many countries have started building EWSs and/or multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS). However, it is estimated that one third of people globally, mostly in developing countries are still not covered by EWSs. As such, reviewing the opportunities and challenges of EWSs is required. This review is drawn from some key findings of a study on early warning systems in urban Malawi.
#1: Access to communication. Access to communication on multiple hazards that exist is limited. This contributes to the high vulnerability of people in urban informal settlements. For example, in Lilongwe City (Mtandire, Biwi, Kawale), 69% of household do not have access to communication before and during hazards such as floods. In terms of awareness and trust of communication messages, the results revealed that in Mtandire 64% of the household participants interviewed have little awareness of floods and 58% indicated that they have little trust in the information they get from different mediums. The value of access to communication to social variables such as awareness of floods, ability to cope, and knowledge of DRR among others was significant with a value of 0.0257 at P.
#2: Interpretation of Alert Systems (IAS). The study revealed that most households in urban informal settlements of Malawi do not know how to interpret the levels of alerts associated with colours such as red, green, and blue which have been highlighted in the National Contingency Plan (NPC).
#3 Verification of effectiveness of EWS provided. It was found that communities in urban have access to weather forecast information and early weather warning messages in the form of heavy rainfall, river crossing, and guardians/parents escorting children to school among others. However, they lack the basis for defining the effectiveness of the EWSs because they are not explicit enough to meet the conditions of EWS. The problem with such messages is that they have not been verified to the level of effectiveness to help people in responding to hazards.
#4 Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) act as early warning systems (EWSs) for communities to respond to impending hazards. Three key roles of IKS can be highlighted. These roles are (1) Preparedness tool. Most people use indigenous knowledge to prepare for impending floods. It was observed that once the communities see these indicators, they get prepared in terms of food and they move their livestock to higher grounds in readiness for the floods. Indigenous knowledge helps people to become aware of the occurrence of floods or disasters so that live in readiness (2) Foretelling tool. Indigenous knowledge helps people to predict the occurrence of disasters (floods or drought). Other people from this area believe that it foretells events that have been not foretold by science and (3) Response tool. Indigenous knowledge helps people to respond to emergencies (increase response and awareness when disaster strikes). They are better able to develop their coping mechanisms to avoid disasters through the use of indigenous knowledge systems. Communities are also able to identify their means of resisting and recovering from floods due to indigenous knowledge systems.
- Existing Opportunities on EWS
In a quest to achieve the call by UNSG, Malawi has several opportunities to meet this call. The following are some of the opportunities; (1) dissemination and warning messages are available and issued to the public (2) awareness on mapped hazard-prone areas to aid timely EWS (3) commitment of academia to conduct more research on EWS, including specific hazards and multi-hazards early warning systems. (4) involvement of media in EWS and communication processes, (5) Willingness to conduct Early warning systems community mapping.
- The challenges and gaps in the current ESWs in Malawi
Despite having opportunities in EWSs, this presentation highlights several weaknesses and gaps that may hamper Malawi from achieving the UN SG call. These include; (1) Limited incorporation of EWS in specific hazard early warning systems (SHEWS) and multi-hazard early-warning systems (MHEWS), (2) Lack of People-centered early warning systems (in terms of warning messages recognized and understood, warning messages tailored to specific needs), (3) Low-risk knowledge among communities affects the adoption of EWSs. This should be improved to address current risks and improve adoption. DODMA can partner with academic centers in academic institutions to fast-track this process (4) Limited technology for EWSs across all sectors. This should be strengthened to improve SHEWS and MHEWS (5) Limited thematic hazard coverage and its cascading. These should be improved to effectively implement systems to reduce the risks and (6) Capacity gaps in awareness/education, resilience building, preparedness infrastructure, monitoring/prediction, communication, etc. should be promoted.
1.4 Conclusions
It is important to highlight the following to inform the dialogue and action in this crucial era for climate-related disasters to strengthen early warning systems for all. These are (1) Disasters are complex, warning messages must be simple, clear, and actionable, (2) Multiple channels are needed to reach all potentially affected households. Mostly, urban settings must be provided with different messages to improve their knowledge of the different risks they face, (3) Warning systems need to be inclusive to leave nobody left behind in emergencies-full coverage (4) Warning systems need to be targeted, and focused. The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services must continue to improve on this matter, (5) Alert messages are not enough, early planning and drills for response and evacuation are a must. DODMA and partners must work toward the achievement of this call and, (6) Inter-institutional collaboration and coordination are essential for joint actions to build early warning systems at all levels. The involvement of academia and experts at all levels is key.
- Recommendations
The study recommends that;
- Government institutional systems must be harmonized towards the implementation of common EWSs.
- Reactiveness of disaster policies that are formulated or updated based on the occurrence of catastrophic impacts must avoided rather focus should be on building EWSs and other crucial strategies.
- The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services should incorporate indigenous knowledge in their messages when providing early warning information to the people at risk.
- Non-governmental organizations supporting vulnerable groups should commit to implementing projects related to indigenous knowledge which can help to encourage young people to learn their local knowledge.