WMO -
World Meteorological Organization
Over the last decade, hydro-meteorological hazards have claimed 71 per
cent of all lives lost to disasters. WMO links 185 National Meteorological
and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) around the world, together with a secretariat
in Geneva. As the authorized entities to issue meteorological and hydrological
warnings to public, NMHSs play a central role in early warning. WMO programmes
include the Natural Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Programme (DPM),
a newly established cross-cutting function to integrate the many activities
being carried out under the various WMO Programmes in the area of disaster
prevention and mitigation.
http://www.wmo.int |
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UNEP -
United Nations Environment Programme
Environment degradation is acknowledged to play an increasing role in worsening
disasters, and at the same time, natural disasters have strong impacts
on the environment. UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment
(DEWA) provides the world community with improved access to environmental
data and information, and helps increase the capacity of governments to
use environmental information for decision-making and action planning for
sustainable human development.
http://www.unep.org/ |
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FAO -
Food and Agriculture Organization
FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) provides
updates and analyses of data on food production, trade, food aid, stocks,
consumption and sub national food security are provided. GIEWS has developed
a computer workstation for data management and early warning analysis,
ranging from crop monitoring using up-to-date satellite images to estimating
food import requirements.
http://www.fao.org/
http://www.fao.org/giews/english/index.htm |
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WHO-
World Health Organization
Health is defined in the WHO Constitution as a state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Natural disasters have strong impact on human’s health. Early warning
together with organized disaster preparedness activities can reduce the
negative health impacts of natural disasters.
http://www.who.int/en/ |
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OCHA -
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Timely and accurate information is integral to humanitarian action in natural
disasters and this requires effective early warning systems. OCHA’s
information management activities support humanitarian decision making
and response by providing systems for the collection, analysis, dissemination
and exchange of key information and early warning data.
http://ochaonline.un.org/
http://www.reliefweb.int/ |
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WFP
- World
Food Programme
When natural or man-made disasters strike, food aid is in urgent need.
WFP manages the provision and transportation of millions of tons of food
aid and needs early warning information helps to identify likely areas
of need and to prepare for and react to emergencies.
http://www.wfp.org/ |
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UNESCO - United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO supports a number of activities on water resources, including water-related
disasters, and on oceanography, and more generally education is an important
tool to engage people in community based risk management and the effective
use of early warning.
http://www.unesco.org/ |
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UNCCD - United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Desertification is a land degradation process that happens in many regions
of the world, and is associated with both human factors and climate change.
It is strongly associated with droughts and famine, and so early warning
is an important tool to forecast these phenomena and enable appropriate
responses. UNCCD has established a framework to facilitate information
flow and coordination of activities related to ecological monitoring, natural
resources mapping, remote sensing and early warning systems.
http://www.unccd.int/ |
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UNFCCC - United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The objective of the UNFCCC is to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a low enough level to prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Early warning systems
are recognized as having a key role in managing weather extremes and hence
adapting to climate change.
http://unfccc.int/ |
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UNU/EHS - United
Nations University/Institute for Environment and Human Security
UNU aims "to contribute, through research and capacity building, to
efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of
the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States.” The new institute
on environment and human security is a neighbour of the Platform for the
Promotion of Early Warning and plans to collaborate on disaster and early
warning issues.
http://www.ehs.unu.edu/ |
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