The Crucial Role of Early Warning andMonitoring Systems in Empowering
Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
17th September 2023

Niranga Alahacoon

Introduction• Throughout human history, natural disasters have been a constant presence.
(hurricanes, wildfires, Floods, Drought …. etc.)• The human lives and economic destruction caused by disasters are immeasurable.
• In such instances, preparedness becomes our strongest shield. But how do we
prepare effectively? This is where we need to understand, the role of early warningand monitoring systems.
• Early warning systems are the eyes and ears that help us anticipate these disasters.
• Today, we'll explore into how early warning and monitoring systems empower us
in our fight against disasters.
• They are not just tools; they enable the mitigation of the worst effects of theseevents.

Mapping climate hazard• Mapping individual hazards(Flood, Drought, Landslides,Coastal inundation,Cyclone, Forest fires,
Earthquake, Extreme
rainfall, Heatwaves and Sea
level rise);• Multi-hazard Risk
Assessment to support indeveloping DRM policies
and financial investment
portfolio for building
resilience
Source: IWMI

Preparedness

Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk

South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS)

It enables users tooversee the entire
application process,spanning from early
warning tomonitoring tocontingency
planning,
encompassing bothpreparedness andmitigation efforts
for drought hazards.

Preparedness and Mitigation

https://dmsdemo.iwmi.org/home

Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk

South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS)

The SADMS system is utilized to monitor and predict the likelihood of dryness or droughts in the next fourweeks, using various indicators such as accumulated rainfall, SPI, vegetation indices (NDVI, VCI), VHI, IDSI…. etc.
It provides national-level drought mapping and offers insights into short and long-term drought outlooks
through alert maps. Additionally, it offers media briefings to report on drought impacts in the region.
Preparedness and Mitigation

https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/resources/drought-monitoring-system/drought-bulletin/

Earth Observation for Agricultural Risk Management (EO4ARM)

Preparedness and Mitigation

https://eo4arm-demo.iwmi.org/home

Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk

Bundled solutions of Index Insurance with Climate Information andSeed Systems to manage Agricultural Risks (BICSA)
Smallholding
and low
incomeLow riskbearing/income
generation
capacity

Lower
technology
adoption

Mitigation

LOW
TECH
TRAP

Low
Affordable
credit accessAversion
to take risk

Disaster Risk Financing - Index based flood insurance (IBFI)

Open access earth observation data and modelling
tools strengthen scaling risk solutions in protecting
poor and vulnerable people in developing countries.
Insurance solutions could help bolster farming
livelihoods, reduce post-disaster costs forgovernments and contribute to reducing poverty,
achieving gender equality and underpinning foodsecurity.

Pilot trials
In India and Bangladesh
since 2017
Mitigation+7,000Households$150,000 USD
Total payout

125k HHScaling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVQ0soREjmM

Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilienceEnabling Responsiveness: AWARE Platform••••

Collaborative platform across institutions, scales, sectors
Near real-time data for climate risk preparedness and rapid
responses
Promotes inclusive governance
Ability to integrate with existing platformEnabling Responsiveness: AWARE Platform

Thank youn.alahacoon@cgiar.org