Early Warnings for All helps to reduce the vulnerability of Maldives
Maldives is the first Asian country and first Small Island Developing State to initiate the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings For All program.
A national consultation on the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative in Maldives took place in July 2023 in order to boost political momentum for and achievement of the EW4All Action Plan by 2027. It leveraged the decades of efforts in the disaster risk reduction and management space by the UN community.
The consultation was presided by H.E. Ms. Aminath Shauna, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology (MoECCT), and co-chaired by Ms. Khadeeja Naseem, State Minister and the UN Resident Coordinator, Catherine Haswell.
It built on the existing regulation and operationalization of Early Warning Services in the Maldives, the Government of Maldives and embraced the technical expertise from the four pillar leads: the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
"As one of the most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis, it is critical that we build our national capacity in early warning and preparedness, and this is a key piece of our adaptation strategy. Early warning systems are cost-effective, saving lives, reducing economic losses, and providing a nearly ten[1]fold return on investment," said Ms Shauna, highlighting early warning as a key piece for adaptation strategy.
“Our islands are numerous, as are our needs, but we are hopeful that through this program, we can drive the support and action needed to ensure every Maldivian is covered by multi-hazard early warning systems,“ she said.
Maldives is a low-lying island nation comprised of estimated 1,192 islands separated in 26 natural atolls, of which 187 islands are inhabited, spread across 90,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean.
Among many other environmental risks, the Maldives is vulnerable to growing loss and damage and more frequent and severe storm surges, heatwaves, and extreme weather hazards, with sea level rise a constant threat. Given that 75% of the Maldives’ land area is situated less than one meter above the average sea level, even a slight increase in sea level poses an exceptionally significant threat.
As a call to scale up national action, EW4All can play a crucial role in accelerating investment to address the vulnerability of the Maldives to climate change by improving early warning systems and enhancing resilience, notably by improving risk data collection and monitoring, facilitating the adoption and implementation of advanced technologies, strengthening communication infrastructure, public awareness, education and enhanced preparedness and responses, and capacity building.
Building on the gaps and needs identified during the workshop, discussions focused on fleshing out national priorities in Maldives to develop a holistic, value chain approach to establishing a people-centered, multi-hazard impact-based early warning system, including through capacity development across the four pillars of EW4All and through different financing mechanisms that are in the pipeline.
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