NAIROBI, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on Monday launched an initiative with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, to strengthen disaster preparedness in the region.
Dubbed "Strengthening Early Warning Systems for Anticipatory Actions," the project, which received funding from Google.org, seeks to improve responses to climate emergencies that have escalated in the Horn of Africa region.
Guleid Artan, director of the IGAD-affiliated Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC), said the project aims to revolutionize early warning systems in the region and enhance local communities' ability to detect and anticipate impending hazards.
"By transforming the quality of early warning information available to communities in disaster-prone regions, the project endeavors to facilitate proactive responses to critical alerts," Artan said during the project's launch in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Artan noted that given the exacerbation of natural hazard-induced disasters by climate change, the importance of timely and accurate early warning systems cannot be overstated.
Pedro Mortara, deputy team lead for food systems, climate change, resilient livelihoods and gender equality in the regional bureau for eastern Africa at the WFP, said extreme weather events like floods have destroyed livelihoods in the region.
Mortara said the partnership with the IGAD will foster the exchange of the latest scientific knowledge that will impact the livelihoods of communities across a region already reeling from climatic shocks.
He said the project will support communities affected by disasters through anticipatory actions instead of a regular response that is more effective in averting a humanitarian crisis.
Through the utilization of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics, the project aims to enhance the accuracy and timeliness of disaster alerts, empowering communities to take proactive measures to safeguard lives and livelihoods, Mortara said. ■
