Caribbean disaster risk management expert, Kim Mallalieu, presented the Goverance Acid Test at today's session of the 2nd Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference

By Jovana Miocinovic

GENEVA, May 14, 2019 - The 2nd Multi Hazard Early Warning Conference closed today with a strong focus on the role that governance must play in ensuring the effectiveness of early warnings and underlined the importance of collaboration when making the switch from single hazard to multi-hazard warnings.

The challenge of doing this effectively was underlined by Dwikorita Karnawati, head of Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) who said the country was in the process of moving to a multi-hazard early warning system following two deadly tsunamis last year which claimed many lives and caused widespread economic losses.  

This requires an expected Presidential decree and a greater degree of coordination among the many agencies involved in responding to at least ten major hazards that Indonesia faces on a regular basis.

She also stressed the importance of community engagement and local risk knowledge for effective early warning systems in order to reach “the last mile” and for enhancing community preparedness. 

“Innovation must rely on traditional wisdom because disasters strike very fast and go beyond what technology can deal with,” Ms. Karnawati noted.

Any multi-hazard early warning system has to be simple and adaptable, and it has to properly address indigenous knowledge.  Authorities often do not take into account that local communities have their own early warning systems. 

Accordingly, it is important to forge partnership between the scientific community, governments, humanitarian community and the general public in order to create multi-hazard early warning systems that are usable, useful and used, and that motivate people to participate in them effectively.   

Caribbean disaster management expert, Kim Mallalieu, presented the Governance Acid Test, with five questions: Can I receive the messages? Can I understand them? Can I trust them? Can I understand what I am expected to do? Are they relevant to me?

Ms. Mallalieu emphasized that the key thing was to ensure that early warnings lead to early action by those who are most at risk from a disaster event but also from being overlooked in the process of dissemination.