Voices for resilience: integrating Indigenous knowledge into early warning systems

An early warning only serves its purpose when it arrives in time, is understood and prompts action. Being technically accurate is not enough: an alert must speak the language of the person receiving it, reach people through the channels they actually use and respond to the way each community organizes to protect itself.

For the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, this challenge takes on a particular dimension. Many communities live in remote territories, where the coverage of conventional communication systems is limited. Yet those same territories hold something no technical system can replace: knowledge, observation systems and environmental and biocultural indicators developed over generations to read changes in the environment, anticipate hazards and protect life.

How to recognize and integrate this knowledge into early warning systems was the focus of the webinar "Voices for resilience: Indigenous knowledge and early warning systems," organized on 11 August by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Indigenous Knowledge Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (RCIRRD, by its Spanish acronym) to mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.

The event brought together representatives of Indigenous Peoples, national institutions and regional organizations to examine how to move toward early warning systems that recognize the knowledge, capacities and forms of organization that already exist in the territories, and how to translate these priorities into national and regional processes, particularly within the Early Warnings for All initiative.

From recognition to implementation

During the event, the RCIRRD presented the document Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge in Early Warning Systems, developed from the contributions of Indigenous representatives, a regional survey and a review of international frameworks and guidance.

The document starts from a fundamental premise: integrating Indigenous knowledge into early warning systems is not simply a matter of adding new sources of information. It requires recognizing systems of knowledge, observation, organization and response developed over generations, and creating the conditions for them to complement scientific and technical information.

At the same time, the Network's consultation reveals barriers to accessing official information, technological and connectivity constraints and language barriers in Indigenous territories. An alert may be technically accurate, but it loses effectiveness if it does not arrive in time, is not understood or offers no information useful for taking action.

In response, the recommendations set out concrete actions: guaranteeing the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the governance of early warning systems; strengthening biocultural and community-based monitoring networks; using redundant communication channels in remote territories; adapting alerts to local languages and cultural contexts; and co-designing messages, alert levels and action protocols with communities.

Alerts must respond to the realities of the territories

The dialogue offered a space to hear the experiences of the Mixteco people of Mexico and the Maya Poqomam people of Guatemala regarding the state of early warnings in their communities and the changes they consider necessary for these systems to better reflect their realities, knowledge and forms of organization.

The interventions reinforced a central message: the relevance of an alert depends as much on the information it contains as on the way it is built, communicated and turned into action.

Sandra Miguel, of the Maya Poqomam people of Guatemala, stressed that "ancestral wisdom [should] not [be seen] as an add-on, but as the very core of a far more effective early warning system."

Languages, the channels used, territorial references, community structures and Indigenous Peoples' own decision-making systems are all fundamental elements. So is recognizing the knowledge communities already use to observe their territory and anticipate change.

This perspective means moving from systems designed for communities toward systems developed with communities, recognizing Indigenous Peoples as actors in disaster risk management and producers of knowledge.

The dialogue with institutions made it possible to explore the implications of this approach for risk governance.

FILAC noted that Indigenous Peoples have their own systems of information, knowledge, governance and response that function within the territories, but that are not always recognized or connected to the institutional mechanisms for disaster risk management and emergency response.

The exchange also underscored the importance of guaranteeing effective participation. From Guatemala, CONRED highlighted the strengthening of territorial dialogue platforms as an opportunity to broaden the participation of organizations and Indigenous Peoples in identifying the priorities to be reflected in territorial and national agendas.

At the regional level, CEPREDENAC pointed to an immediate opportunity: the process of developing a regional early warning systems strategy for Central America and the Dominican Republic, currently under way, can provide a space to incorporate the knowledge and experiences of Indigenous Peoples from the design stage.

FILAC, for its part, emphasized the importance of recovering and valuing the knowledge built up historically through the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and nature, as well as continuing to create spaces for the exchange of knowledge and joint work so that these knowledge systems can be progressively recognized in national policies.

These opportunities show how the agenda can move from recognition toward implementation.

The Early Warnings for All initiative offers a concrete opportunity to put these recommendations into practice. The participation of Indigenous Peoples across the different components of early warning systems, from risk knowledge and monitoring to communication, preparedness and response, can help improve their relevance, ownership and sustainability.

The event also marked a step forward in strengthening the Indigenous Knowledge Network for Disaster Risk Reduction, a regional space for collaboration and exchange that connects Indigenous Peoples, communities, experts and institutions to share knowledge, build capacities and promote greater Indigenous participation and advocacy in disaster risk reduction.

"Let us build a network where we all lend a hand, where we support one another. Let us learn from each other," said Marcia Masaquiza, of the Salasaca people, Kichwa nationality, and a member of the RCIRRD.