Somalia Launches First National Climate Forum
The programme financed by UK MET aims to ensure that weather and climate information are integrated into decision making for sectors such as agriculture, water management, health and disaster risk Management.
The Forum, which was coordinated by Care International and implemented by inter-ministerial MET working group, provided a timely platform to discuss weather and climate related risks and benefits for sustainable development, public safety and protection of property.
The objective of the National Climate Outlook Forum is to create a platform for providing climate information at relevant timescales through a regular and sustained multi-stakeholder dialogue process with users at different levels; ensure that climate information products, including their uncertainties and limitations, are communicated to and understood by users, and to explore the needs of the user communities; encourage the use of the information to mitigate risks in climate-sensitive sectors, including disaster management, infrastructure, health, energy and water resources, agriculture and tourism; receive user feedback for improving usability of climate products to ensure that they are accessible, user-friendly and applicable; provide a platform for understanding risks and opportunities linked to past, current and future climate; create a platform for inter-agency coordination of policies, sectoral plans and programs linked to potential impacts of hydro-meteorological hazards; and create a culture of working together through joint climate information interpretation sessions for managing risks in various climate-sensitive sectors, like agriculture, water, transport, disaster risk reduction and health.
