The Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) program initiative is a financial mechanism to establish risk-informed early warning services and works directly with countries to increase the availability of, and access to, early warning systems.
CREWS programs are supported with three Implementing Partners: The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Background
In Southeast Asia, drought is a recurring natural disaster, especially in Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), affecting the country’s agricultural sector, food security, and livelihoods of its rural communities and economy.
Considering the escalating frequency and intensity of droughts in Southeast Asia, the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) program has taken the initiative to enhance the capacity of national institutions to provide hydrometeorological, early action, and protection to vulnerable populations within these countries.
The CREWS project aims to strengthen the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs) in Lao PDR and Cambodia by addressing gaps in their early warning systems. Enhancements focus on four key pillars: risk knowledge, monitoring and warning services, dissemination and communication, and response capability, ensuring a more effective and coordinated approach to disaster preparedness.
Beyond improving early warning systems, the project also emphasizes the need for action plans on drought management and the integration of water resources management (IWRM) as essential tools for building long-term resilience against water-related risks.
The project has five broad outcomes, namely:
- Outcome 1: Strengthen institutional capacities through improved governance mechanisms.
- Outcome 2: Enhanced capacity of NMHSs to provide forecasts and warnings.
- Outcome 3: NMHSs’ Information and Communication technology strengthened.
- Outcome 4: Enhanced preparedness and response capability to act upon warning and risk information to minimize impact of disasters on lives, livelihoods and socio-economic systems.
- Outcome 5: Improved integration of gender and vulnerable groups across the Early Warning – Early Action (EW-EA) value chain.
