Africa Early Warnings Forum

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Organizers: UNDRR, WMO, AUC, ITU and IFRC and in partnership with Ethiopia, and relevant regional institutions.

Language: English and French (simultaneous interpretation) 

Background and Strategic Context  

The Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, launched by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2022, established an ambitious global objective: ensuring that every person on Earth is protected by multi-hazard early warning systems by 2027. 

Since its launch, EW4All has helped catalyze global momentum around early warning systems, accelerating political commitment, technical cooperation, and investment across regions. Africa made significant progress in strengthening risk knowledge, forecasting systems, preparedness capacities, and early action frameworks also, via the Africa Union’s   Africa Multi Hazard Early Warning and Early Action System (AMHEWAS) initiative. EW4ALL has created value by systematically reducing disaster risk and saving lives through early warning systems that detect hazards, assess risks, disseminate timely alerts, and enable effective community response actions.  

At the same time, climate and disaster risks are increasing in frequency, intensity, and complexity, including across Africa, where exposure, vulnerability, and fiscal pressures continue to place growing strain on national systems. In fragile, conflict and violence affected areas, there is a particularly strong need to implement innovative, community-focused solutions supported by regional structures. 

As the 2027 milestone approaches, the challenge is how to accelerate implementation at scale and ensure systems remain operational, nationally owned, and financially sustainable over the long term. 

Many countries continue to face major gaps in forecasting infrastructure, observational networks, connectivity, last-mile communication, institutional coordination, and sustainable financing. Progress is often constrained by fragmented project-based approaches, limited operational capacity, and insufficient long-term investment in national systems. Rising climate impacts, humanitarian pressures, and constrained public financing environments are further increasing the urgency for scalable and sustainable solutions. 

The next phase of global collaboration on early warning must therefore focus on accelerating delivery while building durable and sustainable national and regional early warning ecosystems. This requires stronger national ownership, accelerated investment, deeper regional cooperation, and expanded operational partnerships across governments, development banks, scientific institutions, development, climate and humanitarian actors, and the private sector. 

Particular emphasis is needed on sustainable financing approaches that move beyond short-term project cycles toward long-term system strengthening, including domestic investment, climate finance, blended finance models, insurance and risk financing mechanisms, and strategic public-private partnerships. 

Technology and innovation will also play a critical role in accelerating progress. Telecommunications providers, satellite and geospatial companies, AI and data firms, insurers, fintech actors, and digital innovators are increasingly supporting national and regional actors to strengthen forecasting capabilities, expand connectivity, improve risk analytics, support anticipatory action, and reach vulnerable populations at scale. 

Against this backdrop, the Africa Early Warnings Forum will serve as an implementation and partnership platform focused on recommendations for rapidly scaling effective and sustainable multi-hazard early warning systems across Africa. 

The Forum will bring together governments, regional institutions, technical agencies, financing partners, private sector leaders, humanitarian actors, and scientific institutions to take stock of progress to date, identify operational priorities, provide recommendations to accelerate implementation, strengthen partnerships, and mobilize the financing and innovation needed to close remaining gaps. The Forum will also contribute African priorities, leadership, and implementation experience to the broader global dialogue on the future of sustainable early warning systems beyond 2027. 

Objectives  

The Forum will focus on accelerating implementation and strengthening sustainable early warning systems capable of operating at scale across Africa. 

Specific objectives include: 

• Accelerate implementation of multi-hazard early warning systems across Africa by identifying progress to date, but also operational bottlenecks, scalable solutions, and priority actions for rapidly expanding coverage, quality, and effectiveness. 
• Advocate for sustainable financing for early warning systems through stronger domestic investment, climate finance, development finance, insurance and risk financing mechanisms, and blended public-private financing approaches. 
• Strengthen national ownership and institutional sustainability by supporting the integration of early warning systems into national planning, legislation, public investment systems, DRR and climate adaptation strategies, and sectoral policies. Scale operational partnerships with the private sector , including telecommunications providers, satellite and geospatial companies, AI and data firms, insurers, financial institutions, technology innovators, as well as private sector associations, including users such as Farmers' and livestock producers' associations, infrastructure managers, energy and touristic sectors, to strengthen users 'tailored forecasting capacity, connectivity, digital infrastructure, risk analytics, and anticipatory action systems. 
• Promote users’-tailored and inclusive systems that ensure warnings reach vulnerable populations, including women, persons with disabilities, displaced populations, indigenous communities, and populations in fragile and conflict-affected settings. 
• Strengthen the link between early warning and early action by co-developing with the users  anticipatory action frameworks, preparedness systems, coordinated response mechanisms, and risk-informed decision-making. 
• Support stronger regional cooperation and knowledge exchange on scalable implementation approaches, operational lessons, and innovative financing and technology solutions. 
• The forum will also provide an opportunity to identify immediate gaps and bottlenecks in reporting on early warning systems.  

Participants  

The Forum will bring together representatives from: 

• African government representatives, including national meteorological and hydrological services, disaster risk reduction and management authorities, finance ministries, telecommunications authorities, and planning ministries 
• Regional organizations, such as the African Union and Regional Economic Communities 
• United Nations entities, international organizations, and humanitarian agencies 
• Development finance institutions and climate finance actors 
• Private sector leaders, including telecommunications companies, satellite and geospatial firms, AI and data companies, insurers, reinsurers, fintech providers, technology innovators, associations of farmers' and livestock producers' associations, infrastructure managers, energy and touristic sectors. 
• Scientific institutions, universities, and research organizations 
• Civil society organizations, youth representatives, and community-based organizations 
• Representatives of persons with disabilities and other groups most at risk from disasters and climate impacts 
• Media 

Expected Outputs  

The Forum is intended as an action-oriented acceleration platform focused on implementation, financing, partnerships, and sustainable systems-building. 

Expected output includes: 

• Africa Early Warnings Acceleration recommendations outlining priority, partnerships and actions toward universal and sustainable multi-hazard early warning coverage across Africa. 
• Recommendations on sustainable post-2027 early warning system architectures , including governance priorities, financing approaches, institutional sustainability measures, and accountability considerations. 
• Regional synthesis report capturing progress, operational lessons, scalable practices, remaining bottlenecks, investment needs and financing opportunities and emerging opportunities for accelerating implementation across Africa.