Acting as the national focal point for the "Early Warnings for All" (EW4All) initiative—launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres—the National Centre for Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management launched a series of national workshops (29-30 September) in Tripoli for the initiative.
Held in partnership with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the workshops are titled "From Risk Knowledge to a National Early Warning Roadmap".
The first day began with a technical workshop dedicated to discussing the initiative's first pillar.
Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Water Resources, the General Authority for Communications and Informatics, the National Meteorological Centre, the Libyan Centre for Remote Sensing and Space Science, the National Centre for Climate Change Research, and the Libyan Red Crescent Society.
The workshop addressed the current state of risk information in Libya and the validation of priority data, while also identifying capacity gaps and national needs to help develop an integrated system for early warning and disaster risk reduction.
Announcement of the National Early Warning Roadmap for Libya
The second day saw the announcement of the National Early Warning Roadmap for Libya.
This was attended by representatives from the National Meteorological Centre, the Libyan Centre for Climate Change Research, the Libyan Centre for Remote Sensing and Space Science, the General Authority for Communications and Informatics, the National Safety Authority, the Government Communication Centre, the General Authority for Media Content Monitoring, and the Atomic Energy Establishment. Representatives also attended from the Ministries of Defence, Interior, Social Affairs, Water Resources, Environment, Planning, Foreign Affairs, and Youth, as well as the Libyan Red Crescent, the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre, the World Health Organization (WHO), the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), and the World Food Programme (WFP), alongside various other national and international entities.
These workshops are part of the Centre’s efforts to unify national endeavours, enhance coordination and information-sharing among relevant stakeholders, and support the development of an integrated national early warning roadmap—thereby contributing to the protection of lives and property and improving preparedness and response capabilities regarding various risks and emergencies in Libya.
Early warning systems by 2027 by accelerating pace of action at national level
The workshop aims to ensure that everyone is protected by early warning systems by 2027. This is to be achieved by accelerating action at the national level, prioritizing the most vulnerable groups, and linking existing investments and capacities within an integrated, multi-hazard system.
The initiative is grounded in four key pillars of early warning systems:
· First: knowledge of disaster risks.
· Second: the detection, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting of hazards and their potential impacts;
· Third: the dissemination and broadcasting of warnings
· Fourth: preparedness and response through capacity building at national, local, and community levels.
The initiative seeks to assess the current state of early warning systems in Libya and foster a shared understanding of progress across these four pillars.
It also aims to adopt a whole-of-society approach—involving government bodies, local authorities, civil society, the private sector, academic institutions, the media, and at-risk communities—while considering factors such as age, disability, gender, and other sources of vulnerability.