Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Programme

Regional/National Capacity Development Projects

Last updated: 16 August 2018

Integrated Capacity Development Approach
Regional/national capacity development projects focus on the strengthening of capacities in the linkages between meteorological services and DRR stakeholders.

Criteria for initiation of projects
The development of these projects is based on the following considerations:

1. Government interest, engagement and commitment to DRR and climate adaptation
2. Multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral engagement and development of strategic alliances (national, regional, global)
3. Engagement of WMO Members, Regional Associations (RAs) and WMO Operational Network
4. Partners and donors engagement from early stage
5. Leverage exiting projects and their outcomes
6. User-driven assessment of gaps, needs, prioritization and requirements
7. National/regional development component
   • National: DRR policies, institutional roles, partnerships, capacity development
   • Regional: Strengthening of Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs), Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) and cooperation with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs)
8. Integrated Service Delivery for development of meteorological, hydrological and climate services
   • National: Strengthening of NMHS, technical cooperation and development of products and services as per requirements of target users
   • Regional: Engagement and strengthening of RSMCs and RCCs and their cooperation with NMHS
9. Sustainability

Expected Outcomes
The expected outcomes of these projects include:

1. Increased clarity of the role of NMHSs in the national DRR institutional framework (planning, coordination, etc) and linkage to the users who have direct responsibility with decision-making under the national DRR Institutional frameworks
2. Increased coordination and cooperation at national and regional levels for provision of meteorological, hydrological, and climate information to the targeted socio-economic sectors
3. Increased utilization and demonstrated benefits of meteorological, hydrological, and climate knowledge in the decision-making processes of governments and targeted socio-economic sectors

Main Thrusts

1. Prioritization of NMHS national DRR users, establishment of agreements as per national DRR priorities and institutional frameworks
2. Assessment of DRR user needs, requirements and agreements for meteorological, hydrological and climate products and services
3. Documentation of national policies and regulatory framework and roles of NMHS (with partners such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR))
4. Development of relevant partnership agreements and alliances (regional, global)
5. Modernization and/or core service strengthening of NMHS as relevant (with partners such as the World Bank)
6. Development of products and services, underpinned by Quality Management System (QMS) principles:
   • Severe Weather and Marine Services: Increased access to and forecasting tools and severe weather warning services and utilization of related products by users
   • Hydrological services: Increased access to national and regional flood management information systems
   • Climate Services: Increased access to climate data, analysis tools, and climate forecast products and services
7. Observing Systems, data services and exchange: Increased regional dialogue and agreements for exchange of meteorological, hydrological and climate data and regional products (space, radar, etc)
8. In-country technical support and feedback
9. Evaluation and expansion to next phase

Engagement of WMO Regional Associations (RAs), WMO Technical Commissions (TCs) and various WMO operational networks of RSMCs and RCCs has been critical for the development of these projects. Specifically, regional association management groups and related working groups are engaged in supporting the assessments and the development of the requirements and prioritization of capacity development needs to be considered in these projects. This has been underpinned by multi-agency, multi-stakeholder user interface mechanisms, facilitated by the WMO Secretariat engaging NMHSs and DRR stakeholders. Lessons learned from these interactions are critical to strengthening of the role of Regional Associations and their working groups and their cooperation with DRR mechanisms in the regions.

These projects provide enabling environments for an integrated and coordinated approach to engaging the WMO Technical Commissions and Programmes with the RAs, Members and other partners for a more coordinated approach to assist Members. To this end, the project proposals and related implementation plans should ensure reflection of the specific contributions of the RAs and TCs, in particular with respect to the identification of needs and requirements, development of guidelines, norms and standards.