Govt committed to building effective early warning systems – Communications Minister
The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, says the government is committed to building a resilient nation through effective multi-hazard early warning systems.
She said the recruitment of 250 staff and the procurement of 26 Water Automatic Weather Stations by the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), amendment of the GMet Act 2019, and the enactment of the Ghana Hydrological Authority Act, 2022, was a testament to such commitment.
Also, she mentioned that the West Africa Food Resilience System project, and the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project were some examples of ongoing projects aimed at building multi-hazard early warning systems.
Delivering a keynote address at the launch and consultative workshop on Ghana’s Early Warning for All (EW4All) initiative in Accra on Tuesday, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, said the initiative was aimed at protecting every individual on the earth from hazardous weather, water, or climate events through life-saving early warning systems by 2027.
According to Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, the successful implementation of the EW4All initiative would help the country to achieve five of the Sustainable Development Goals which focused on good health and well-being, cities and communities, climate action, life on land, and partnerships.
She explained that it was important for an effective multi-hazard early warning system developed in a way that made it inclusive and accessible to all segments in society as it played a role in reducing vulnerability and increased resilience of communities to potential hazards.
“The successful implementation of EW4All requires a structured approach, including logistical preparation, gap analysis, a comprehensive roadmap, resource mobilisation, securing potential commitment and stakeholder coordination,” Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said.
As the Vice President of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET), she said her role was to advance Early Warning Systems (EWS) across Africa.
She expressed gratitude to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) for its continuous support to the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), including Ghana, where GMet was implementing the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) on its new website.
The minister commended the international bodies and funding institutions who were carrying out various projects to strengthen the country’s EWS.
“Let us work together to ensure that every Ghanaian is protected by early warning systems. Together, we can build a safer and more sustainable future for Ghana,” the minister added.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director-General of the Ghana EW4all initiative, Dr Eric Asuman, praised stakeholders for their collaborative effort for the successful launch.
He added that the GMet, per its mandate was to provide relevant climate services, and would continue to strengthen their collaboration with all national pillars to enhance early warning systems.
The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Mr Charles Abani, in a speech read on his behalf by the Development Coordinating Officer (Data Management and Result Monitoring/ Reporting), Myra Togobo, underscored the need for collaboration among stakeholders in achieving the goals of the EW4All initiative.
“The integration of local knowledge with scientific data to enhance community resilience is key to this process,” Mr Abani added
BY CYNTHIA ASAMPANA
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