GLOBAL MULTI-HAZARD ALERT SYSTEM (GMAS)

Transcription

1 World Meteorological Organization EXECUTIVE COUNCIL WORKING GROUP ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (EC WG/DRR) Seventieth Session Geneva, 9 to 10 April 2018 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc Submitted by: Secretary-General 27.III.2018 GLOBAL MULTI-HAZARD ALERT SYSTEM (GMAS) 1. Background 1.1. Early warnings for weather, water and climate hazards have been demonstrated over the past decade to be very effective in reducing loss of life and damage to property. The authoritative warnings, which come from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of each country, provide the foundation on which early action to take precautions against hazards by the responsible authorities and public can be realized In the Annex to Decision 3 (EC-69) GMAS Vision is described: To be recognized globally by decision makers as a resource of authoritative warnings and information related to high-impact weather, water and climate events The Executive Council (EC-69): a. Requested the EC WG/DRR to further advance the GMAS concept and to develop a strategy that emphasizes the following components: Focuses on the benefits to and requirements of the users, Emphasizes that NMHSs are the official authoritative source and in most countries, a single voice, on weather warnings in respective cases, Considers the role of RSMCs in providing guidance to Members (e.g. tropical cyclones, and climate products), Considers both the meteorological and hydrological aspects, Accommodates public and private capacities and use cases, Takes into account other service providers such as GDACS, Utilizes the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) or other industry standards to enable a robust mechanism for aggregating warnings from Members; b. Requested the EC WG/DRR to develop: A detailed plan aimed at gathering the requirements; and A Proposal which leverages existing working mechanisms (for example, CBS Management Group Task Team on DRR, where available) in consultation with regional associations and technical commissions; 2. Status In responding to the EC-69 request, the Expert Group on the WMO Global Multi-Hazard Alert System (EG-GMAS), at its second session in Geneva from 21 to 23 March 2018, developed proposals of the GMAS Concept, Strategy, the Plan to document user requirements and a draft Decision on GMAS to be considered by EC-70.

2 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 2 3. Items for discussion 3.1. EC-WG/DRR is invited to consider the updated GMAS Concept, which includes introductory sections, such as key drivers, objectives and benefits, followed by the GMAS potential providers and users, collaboration with technical commissions and regional associations and also includes a preliminary project plan The Strategy elaborates further the Concept by providing supplementary details, such as proposals which leverage existing working mechanisms. The Strategy could be considered by EC WG/DRR as an information document for EC-70 and is presented in a separate document EC WG/DRR is also invited to consider the Plan to document user requirements, which includes overarching principles for documentation of user requirements, users to be considered, planned activities and a table of actions to be completed between April 2018 and February Recommendations It is recommended that EC WG/DRR: a. approves the GMAS Concept for submission to EC-70; b. approves the GMAS Strategy as an information document to EC-70; c. approves the Plan to document user requirements for submission to EC-70; and d. approves the Draft decision on GMAS for submission to EC References Executive Council, Sixty-ninth session, Geneva, May 2017, Abridged final report with resolutions and decisions, Decision 3 (EC-69) GMAS; Final report of the second meeting of the Expert Group on GMAS, Geneva, March 2018.

3 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 3 DRAFT DECISIONS Draft Decision 3.2/1 (EC-70) DRAFT DECISION Draft Decision 3.2/1 (EC-70) WMO GLOBAL MULTI-HAZARD ALERT SYSTEM THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, Recalling: (1) The WMO Convention (WMO-No. 15) which (a) reaffirms the vital importance of the mission of the National Meteorological, Hydrometeorological and Hydrological Services in observing and understanding weather and climate and in providing meteorological, hydrological and related services in support of relevant national needs; (b) recognises that Members need to work together to coordinate, standardize, improve and encourage efficiencies in the exchange of meteorological, climatological and hydrological and related information between them, in the aid of human activities; (c) considers that meteorology is best coordinated at the international level; and (d) considers further that there is a need for close cooperation with other international organizations, (2) An Agreement between UN and WMO, Article VI, Basic Documents No.1, in which WMO agrees to cooperate with and to render all possible assistance to the United Nations, its principal and subsidiary organs, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization, (3) Resolution 10 (Cg-17) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and WMO Participation in the International Network for Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (IN-MHEWS) calls for the necessity of enhancing multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) and that the Member States of the United Nations called for strengthened regional and international cooperation to develop science-based methodologies and tools to support MHEWS, (4) Annex to paragraph of the general summary (Cg-17) which states that NMHSs are the official authoritative source and in most instances, a single authoritative voice for weather warnings in their respective countries, and, in many, they are also responsible for climate, hydrology, air quality, earthquake, tsunami and space weather, (5) Resolution 2 (Cg-17) - Implementation of WMO Strategy for Service Delivery; in which Congress considered that Members, through regional associations, technical commissions and various WMO activities, expressed a need for improved service delivery to the public, to the disaster community and to social and economic sectors, (6) Resolution 5 (Cg-17) Public Weather Services Programme; requested the Secretary-General to liaise with the Member that hosts the Severe Weather Information Centre (SWIC) website to carry out the enhancement necessary to enable the website to disseminate weather warnings provided in CAP format by Members,

4 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 4 (7) Decision 3 (EC-69) WMO Global Multi-Hazard Alert System (GMAS), which endorsed the GMAS vision as an initial draft statement, (8) Resolution 3 (RA VI-17), requesting RA VI Members, pending the decision of EC-70 on GMAS, to: (a) participate and contribute to the development of WMO GMAS; and (b) identify projects from among the existing regional systems that could demonstrate GMAS potential capabilities and function, to identify national practices in MHEWS for use in GMAS, and to formulate their requirements vis-à-vis GMAS, Recognizing that: (1) Early warnings for weather, water and climate hazards have been demonstrated as very effective in reducing loss of life and property, (2) The NMHSs of Members are the authoritative source for issuing of hydrometeorological warning and alerting products in their respective countries, (3) Impacts related to hydrometeorological hazards affect an increasingly exposed and vulnerable population at the national, regional and global levels; to help mitigate this threat warning information from all countries should be made more easily available for Members and decision makers within the United Nations agencies, NGO s, private sector and the general public. (4) Within the United Nations system WMO is the authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources, (5) There have been significant advancements in the accuracy, reliability and timeliness in observing, forecasting and warning of severe weather phenomena, (6) The global indicators to measure effectiveness and success of warnings (e.g. those for the global target G of the Sendai Framework) require coordinated reporting from Members, (7) The World Weather Information Services (WWIS) and Severe Weather Information Centre (SWIC) operated by Hong Kong, China on behalf of WMO, as well as the Alert Hub being developed by Hong Kong, China, are good demonstrations of possible future GMAS functions and that Hong Kong, China is willing to enhance them to become a core component of GMAS, (8) Regional, sub-regional and national platforms such as Meteoalarm of the European Meteorological Services Network (EUMETNET) and Meteoalert of Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia (Roshydromet) serve as good examples that could be leveraged in the development of WMO GMAS, Noting that: (1) In January 2017, the UN Secretary General issued, as one of his first strategic decisions, an aim to strengthen information management and coordination within the UN system

5 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 5 (2) In addition to national early warning systems, further regional / sub regional multihazard alarm systems and partnerships are being set up by some Members: a. the South East Europe Multi-Hazard Advisory Systems project will shortly publish its Implementation Plan and is supported by USAID and the World Bank; b. the Pilot Project to Enhance the Capability of Meteorological Disaster Risk Reduction in RA II (Resolution 12 (RA II-16)) has been proposed to establish a regional meteoalarm system, based on the implementation of CAP and the experience of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) in hosting the WWIS and SWIC websites of WMO and is being coordinated by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO); and c. RA II Decision 16 (RA II-16) aims to develop collaborative arrangements among Members and to build on the experience and tools developed by WWIS and SWIC, (3) GMAS Strategy, presented in INF.4.2.1, outlines major areas of a future possible GMAS Implementation Plan, Having been informed that: (1) The Expert Group on GMAS, established by the EC WG/DRR met in Geneva, Switzerland on October 2017 and on March 2018, and developed further the GMAS Concept, a draft of the GMAS strategy and a Plan to gather user requirements. (2) A draft GMAS concept was presented and well received at the meeting of the Presidents of Regional Associations and the Presidents of Technical Commissions (January 2018), the 16th session of WMO RA II (February 2017), the 17th session of RA IV (March 2017) and the 17th session of RA VI (February 2018), Endorses the GMAS Concept and the project Plan describing the process to gather user requirements, presented in the Annex to this decision. Requests the EC WG/DRR to develop a GMAS Implementation Plan and to submit it to Cg- 18 for consideration, Urges Members, regional associations, technical commissions to: (1) Provide their requirements as stipulated in the GMAS Concept, (2) Participate and contribute to the development of GMAS Implementation Plan, Further urges Members (1) To support deeper WMO engagement in the UN Activities, (2) To provide warnings in CAP format, (3) To update their entries in the Register of Alerting Authorities.

6 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 6 Requests the Secretary-General to: (1) Support the EC WG/DRR in the development of the GMAS Implementation Plan, (2) Communicate GMAS initiative to Members and to potential users and stakeholders, (3) Communicate GMAS initiative to donors with the aim of mobilizing resources for the implementation of GMAS. (4) Facilitate the coordination of GMAS within the UN System, and with external partners. Annex: 1 GMAS Concept Annex: 2 Plan to document user requirements

7 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 7 Annex 1 to draft Decision 3.2/1 (EC-70) GMAS CONCEPT 1. Introduction Early warnings for weather, water and climate hazards have been demonstrated over the past decade to be very effective in reducing loss of life and damage to property. The authoritative warnings, which come from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of each country, provide the foundation on which early action to take precautions against hazards by the responsible authorities and public can be realized. However, non-authoritative warnings, alerts and advices are issued by other sources and transmitted through channels such as the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), World Food Programme (WFP) and private entities such as Google. As impacts related to hydrometeorological hazards affect an increasingly exposed and vulnerable population at national, regional and global levels across political boundaries, there is a need for the authoritative warnings and alerts from all countries to be made more easily accessible in a timely manner. Moreover, they need to be understandable for decision makers at all levels, including those from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies and the general public, to maximise their value and usefulness. It is proposed that a WMO Global Multi-Hazard Alert System (GMAS) be developed to provide Members and other potential users with the authoritative warnings/alerts and information related to highimpact weather, water and climate events. Before GMAS may be approved for development and implementation, a more thorough understanding of the possible scope of GMAS should be acquired through an extensive exercise to gather user requirements. GMAS will be built on alert hub technology to enable timely aggregation of relevant authoritative warnings and alerts related to high-impact weather, water and climate events. GMAS will also leverage WIS to maintain a repository of authorized warnings, alerts and related information. The World Weather Information Service (WWIS), the Severe Weather Information Centre (SWIC) and the WMO Alert Hub were identified as initial core components of GMAS. SWIC and WWIS will also provide a web-based user interface with a map display as a showcase for GMAS users, ensuring the attribution of WMO and NMHSs as authoritative sources of warnings and alerts. Figure 1. Web-based user interface with a map display of the enhanced Severe Weather Information Centre.

8 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 8 The process to document the user requirements of GMAS has been initiated and will further inform the ongoing technical development of GMAS. In designing GMAS, the emphasis will be on the system being affordable, achievable and relevant to all Members. 1.1 Key Drivers The key drivers for the development and implementation of GMAS are the addressing of major gaps in Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) at national, regional and global levels In 2015, governments, agencies, NHMSs, WMO representatives and the wider disaster risk reduction community gathered together in Sendai, an area itself devastated by the Great Japan Earthquake, to discuss and formulate what has now become the ground-breaking Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. In Sendai all parties agreed upon the requirement for enhancing services, strengthening regional and global collaboration and developing science based methodologies to support Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems. This forms the basis for Target G of the Sendai Framework to substantially increase the availability of, and access to, multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to people by Even prior to the Sendai Conference, demand for access to multi-hazard information was growing as decision makers, including elements within the UN, realized the power of assimilating environmental information into both their short-term response and longer-term decision-making processes. However this arena has seen a growing number of information providers. Social media has significantly expanded its reach and influence, and nonauthoritative sources of weather, water and climate information continue to proliferate which at times can cause ambiguity in the minds of disaster managers resulting in delay to key decisions. Ultimately, this could cost lives. NMHSs are the official authoritative source and, in most countries, a single voice on weather, climate and hydrological warnings. In many, they are also responsible for air quality, seismic and tsunami warnings and for space weather forecasts and warnings. WMO needs to ensure that the global community, and in particular those who live near political boundaries or are at risk of trans-boundary hazards, have easy access to trans-national, multi-hazard information to help mitigate risk. Under the banner of the WMO GMAS, Members will work with all users of warning products to better understand their requirements. GMAS development will ensure respect for the national mandated authorities for warning issuance, but GMAS will also ensure that, where necessary, complex hydrometeorological language is translated into information which can be actioned by decision makers. The development of GMAS and its potential significance and value as a definitive source of authoritative multi-hazard alerts will depend on the reliability of information from national sources (i.e. Members) and this will promote efforts to ensure that MHEWS are functional and strengthened at national levels. 1.2 Guidance from the Executive Council, including the Vision In the Annex to Decision 3 (EC-69) GMAS Vision is described: To be recognized globally by decision makers as a resource of authoritative warnings and information related to highimpact weather, water and climate events. The Executive Council (EC-69): 1 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

9 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 9 c. Endorsed the GMAS vision as an initial draft statement which will be further advanced through the guidance of the Executive Council Working Group on DRR (EC WG/DRR); d. Requested the Secretary-General to (a) Support the EC WG/DRR to incorporate the work already conducted under the Advisory Group on the WMO GMAS into their own agenda; and (b) mobilize the resources for the EC WG/DRR; e. Requested the EC WG/DRR to further advance the GMAS concept and to develop a strategy that emphasizes the following components: Focuses on the benefits to and requirements of the users, Emphasizes that NMHSs are the official authoritative source and in most countries, a single voice, on weather warnings in respective cases, Considers the role of RSMCs in providing guidance to Members (e.g. tropical cyclones, and climate products), Considers both the meteorological and hydrological aspects, Accommodates public and private capacities and use cases, Takes into account other service providers such as GDACS, Utilizes the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) or other industry standards to enable a robust mechanism for aggregating warnings from Members; f. Requested the EC WG/DRR to develop: A detailed plan aimed at gathering the requirements; and A Proposal which leverages existing working mechanisms (for example, CBS Management Group Task Team on DRR, where available) in consultation with regional associations and technical commissions; 1.3 Objectives Objectives of the WMO GMAS: a. To enhance the authoritative voice of Members NMHSs in issuing official early warnings for weather, water, hydrological and climate; b. To promote and improve the availability and accessibility of MHEWS as envisioned in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction ; c. To enhance the visibility of WMO in contributing to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals to the UN and the media; d. To develop standards and best practices for DRR/MHEWS on national, regional and global levels, including cross-border collaboration. 2. Expected benefits a. Increased recognition of the NMHS products and services at the regional and global levels; b. Improving the availability of Members warning and related information and products to the general public and media c. Assistance in decreasing avoidable losses and damage associated with high impact weather, water and climate events; d. Supporting the enhancement of the capacities of Members to strengthen MHEWS at national levels; e. Increased focus on trans-boundary cooperation and information exchange during high impact events; f. Assisting the UN and humanitarian agencies to deliver more efficient operations through the use of authoritative information and advice; g. Supporting the standardization of practices for sharing hydro-meteorological hazard products and information between WMO Members.

10 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page GMAS Providers 3.1 Primary Providers The primary providers are Members. Through their NMHSs, they will provide authoritative warnings, alerts and information related to high-impact weather, water, ocean and climate events. 3.2 Major providers and their engagement in GMAS GMAS will be strongly aligned with World Meteorological Centres (WMCs), Regional Specialized Meteorological centres (RSMCs) with geographical specialization, Centres for General purpose activities, RSMCs for specialized activities and RSMCs for non-real-time coordination activities, as specified in the Manual on Global Data-processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS), WMO-No GMAS will also be aligned with practices and principles already used for SWFDP. In the process of drafting the GMAS Implementation Plan, the responsibility of providers for the provision of warnings/alerts and relevant products and information will be identified, unless they are already specified in the Manual on GDPFS. Major providers would include international organizations, such ECMWF, EUMETSAT and ACMAD, as well as from UN family organizations, such as WFP and GDACS. 3.3 Other potential providers and their engagement in GMAS Other potential providers would come from among public entities, including UN and other intergovernmental and international bodies that are involved in monitoring the environment and/or produce hydrometeorological warnings/alerts and information related to high-impact weather, water and climate events. Private entities that are involved in the monitoring of the environment and/or produce hydrometeorological warnings and information related to high-impact weather, water and climate events may also be considered. 4. GMAS Users and their Requirements GMAS could potentially serve a diverse array of users from both the public and private sectors. However, Members will be the primary users of GMAS. Among other users an emphasis will be given to UN and humanitarian agencies to fulfil their requirements for authoritative information. This is within the vision of WMO to be the UN official voice for weather, water and climate information. As the ultimate purpose of the United Nations is to facilitate peace, respond to humanitarian emergencies, facilitate international security as well as economic development and social progress, Members will ultimately benefit from services provided by GMAS to the UN and humanitarian agencies. There have been a number surveys conducted by the WMO which sought to evaluate the NMHSs of WMO Member countries with respect to capacities, gaps and needs to support Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Results from these surveys have indicated that many NMHSs face significant challenges related to coordination and/or collaboration with neighbouring countries for the issuance of watches and warnings. A vast majority of members highlighted the need for improved coordination with Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and neighbouring NMHSs in relation to watches and warnings. In early the 2000s humanitarian reforms initiated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) aimed at enhanced coordination among the humanitarian agencies to improve contingency planning to anticipate and better respond to disasters. This resulted in new opportunities for the utilization of meteorological, hydrological and climate information products and services by humanitarian and disaster risk management agencies. To help realize these opportunities, the Commission of Basic Systems established a Task Team on Meteorological Services for Improved Humanitarian Planning and Response which reported

11 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 11 in A significant amount of work has already been accomplished in identifying humanitarian agency requirements for weather, climate and water products and services; however this work needs to be updated. The Plan to document user requirements is presented separately. 5. Collaboration with the WMO technical commissions and regional associations GMAS will establish working arrangements with the WMO technical commissions and regional associations, their Programmes and working mechanisms, including existing projects, activities and initiatives which GMAS can build upon. GMAS pilot and demonstration projects will be developed from among the existing systems and/or their components to demonstrate some of the expected GMAS capabilities and functions. A template has been developed to document and monitor GMAS projects. 6. Project Management Overview The Project Management will follow a recognised industry standard, such as PRINCE II and the text below will be re-aligned with the chosen standard in drafting the GMAS Implementation Plan. Upon approval, a Project Steering Committee (PSC) should be established to oversee the Project implementation and to make decisions required for Project implementation, especially those related to overseeing, monitoring, reviewing, guiding and supporting the Project implementation and any subsequent changes to it. Agreements/memoranda that stem from the Project implementation will be considered by the PSC. The PSC will also ensure full financial diligence and reporting to GMAS stakeholders (project participants) and to EC WG/DRR and will address and mitigate major challenges and risks confronted. 7. Capacity development The GMAS Implementation Plan will support the development of guidelines, practices and training materials, taking into advantage of, and building upon, existing materials where available. This will lead to the adoption of standard and recommended practices for DRR and the effective provision of MHEWS. It should include practices for the provision of services to UN and humanitarian agencies. These activities should aid the active participation of Members, especially those from the developing countries, LDCs and SIDS. A Capacity Development Plan (CDP) will be developed based upon a review of needs of Members, with emphasis on the developing countries, LDCs and SIDSs. The CDP will aim to leverage twinning, partnership and transfer of technology. The CDP will be shared with donors and other implementation agencies with a view to resource mobilization and funding support. 8. Resources Required resources will be identified through a standard process (the WMO Strategic Plan the WMO Operating Plan - the WMO results-based budget) and should be augmented by extra-budgetary contributions from Members and other donors. The WMO Office for Resource Mobilization and Development Partnerships should assist in the mobilization of additional resources for GMAS implementation. A more comprehensive resource analysis will be done in conjunction with the development of an implementation plan. Cost-effectiveness of GMAS implementation will be focused on the principle of building GMAS on those systems which already exist.

12 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page Communication and Outreach For a successful implementation of GMAS, activities will be planned to reach out to all key stakeholders to introduce the GMAS concept, including objectives, benefits, risks, capacity development and training, as well as the modalities of how GMAS will be implemented. Members, other potential users and stakeholders should be cognisant of their roles and should be informed on the project progress and achievements. Events, activities, basic documents and general information material (e.g., factsheets, leaflets, posters) will be made available on the GMAS dedicated website. A C&O strategy will be developed and will be an integral part of the GMAS IP. This should include educating Members, as well as external partners and other users. 10. Monitoring and Evaluation The evaluation methodology will be designed against GMAS Key implementation activities as identified in the GMAS Implementation Plan and will focus on activities, deliverables, timeline, and responsibility with respect to the resources available. Mid-term evaluation, interim progress reports and post-implementation reviews will be planned as a means of providing early feedback on progress towards success, and as a means of meeting accountability and transparency requirements for the development and implementation phase. 11. Preliminary Project Plan Below is a proposal for a possible implementation roadmap, which will be adapted to the requirements that will be gathered through a process of documenting user requirements Development Phase (mid-2017 to mid-2019) Mid-2017 to mid-2018 This includes: (a) identification of user requirements, (b) identification of relevant WMO working mechanisms, (c) communication with the key user organisations, (d) development of GMAS Concept and GMAS Strategy. Mid-2018 to mid This will include development of the GMAS Implementation Plan. Here, it is noted that there are activities underway by several WMO Members Implementation Phase (mid-2019 to end-2021) This phase will start with addressing needs of Members and major potential users, e.g. UN and humanitarian agencies that have operational activities. At this stage GMAS will rely on products that are available at NMHSs, WMO global or regional centres or other major WMO centres and are readily available. This will follow with addressing needs of other potential users. All warnings/alerts and information related to high-impact weather, water and climate events will be available in GMAS in support of users needs. New products will be developed, as appropriate. From mid-2021, the system will run in a pre-operational mode to test all components of the System and to identify and fix the problems encountered. A Test Protocol shall demonstrate whether all components and the System as a whole respond to the defined technical specifications and whether all defined deliverables were achieved. This will also include an assessment of the satisfaction of Members, as well as UN and humanitarian organization and agencies and other potential users with the delivery of GMAS information and products.

13 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page Operational Phase (2022 onwards) Once the pre-operational mode of the System is declared successful, GMAS shall enter into the Operational Phase. Nevertheless, GMAS will continue to evolve to improve its performance in support of the users decision-making process, thus responding optimally to their needs and to evolving technological opportunities. 12. Major GMAS Implementation Activities GMAS implementation activities will be grouped into the key implementation areas, such as: (a) Management of GMAS Implementation; (b) Collaboration with the WMO Technical Commissions, Regional Associations, Programmes and projects; (c) Design of the GMAS System; (d) GMAS Operation and Maintenance; (e) Standard and Best Practices and Procedures for MHEW on all levels; (f) Capacity Development and Training; and (g) Communications and Outreach. The scope of the GMAS implementation activities will be described in the GMAS Implementation Plan, however, provision needs to be made for additional activities as warranted during implementation.

14 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page Introduction Annex 2 to draft Decision 3.2/1 (EC-70) PLAN TO DOCUMENT USER REQUIREMENTS GMAS should serve divers array of users, including public and private sectors. Besides Members a focus will be given to amongst others UN and humanitarian agencies to fulfil their requirements for authoritative information. This is within the vision of WMO to be the UN official voice for weather, water and climate information. The ultimate purpose of the United Nations is to facilitate peace, respond to humanitarian emergencies, facilitate international security as well as economic development and social progress. Therefore, Members will ultimately benefit from services provided by GMAS to the UN and humanitarian agencies Background WMO Members requirements There have been a number surveys conducted by the WMO in the past which sought to evaluate the NMHSs of WMO Member countries capacities, gaps and needs to support Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in their respective countries. These surveys queried WMO Members capacities gaps and needs related to DRR with specific focus on hazard warnings, coordination and consultation with neighbouring countries, dissemination of warnings and advisories (both at the national and regional levels). Results from these surveys have indicated that many WMO Members NMHSs face significant challenges related to coordination and/or collaboration with neighbouring countries for the issuance of watches and warnings. More specifically, in the benchmark DRR Programme survey of 2006/7, the vast majority of members (over 90% of survey responses) highlighted their need for improved coordination with Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and neighbouring NMHSs in relation to watches and warnings. The survey responses also drew attention to problems that arise when private companies issue warnings that may, or appear to, conflict with NMHS warnings. This benchmark survey results have been confirmed by similar regional and sub-regional surveys conducted in more recent years such for the Caribbean ( ), and central Asia (2009), South East Europe (2010/11), Central America (2011) Humanitarian Agencies Requirements In early the 2000s a wave of humanitarian reforms was initiated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) using the cluster approach for enhanced coordination among the humanitarian agencies to improve contingency planning to anticipate and better respond to disasters. This resulted in new opportunities for utilization of meteorological, hydrological and climate information products and services by humanitarian and disaster risk management agencies, based on understanding of their institutional structures, planning and operational mechanisms, needs and requirements. To help realize these opportunities, the Commission of Basic Systems (CBS) of the WMO at its 14th Session (Croatia, April 2009) established a Task Team on Meteorological Services for Improved Humanitarian Planning and Response (hereafter referred to as Task Team). The objective of the Task Team was to work towards the development of operational capacities through leveraging the WMO operational network to provide meteorological, hydrological and climate information-products and services to humanitarian agencies at international, regional and national levels to support their emergency contingency planning, preparedness and response.

15 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 15 Following the establishment of the Humanitarian Task Team, a brainstorming session on Meteorological Services for Improved Humanitarian Emergency Contingency Planning and Response was held at the WMO headquarters, in Geneva, on the 17 April The objective of the brainstorming meeting was to explore how to proceed with the development of information products and services to support humanitarian contingency planning and response. The meeting was attended by experts from international and UN humanitarian agencies involved in humanitarian contingency planning, including International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and staff from the WMO Secretariat. In summary, there has been a significant amount of work already accomplished to identify the humanitarian agencies requirements for weather, climate and water products and services however since much of this work was accomplished from this work needs to be updated. This summary is presented in Annex II. 5. PLAN TO DOCUMENT GMAS USER REQUIREMENTS 5.1. Overarching principles for documentation of User Requirements Principles for further documentation of UR for weather, water and climate products and services are to: Leverage information that has already been accomplished (e.g. country profile database, surveys, lessons learnt); Verify existing UR information through the conduct of a focused surveys, bimultilateral meetings with users and regional suppliers of weather, water and climate information (e.g. JRC, ACMAD); Understand different needs of Members so that GMAS can respond to their requirements; Identify and document of GAPs and needs of GMAS users and suppliers of information and products. Respect the authorized voice provided by Members; Importnace of warnings and related high-impact weather, water and climate events to trans-boundary issues; Roles of the WMO World Meteorological Centres and the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers are considered; Aggregate all relevant authoritative warnings and related information into GMAS to serve as a virtual one-stop shop; Accessibility and timely availability of GMAS-related information to Members and other potential users; Promotion of a MHEW service approach, including cascading and utilization of hazard clusters; Utilization user-oriented interfaces, as appropriate; Promotion of impact- and risk-based warning development for decision making Types of users GMAS users and stakeholders (e.g. National, humanitarian agencies, regional support centres) will be categorized into user types based on their requirements which will include, but not limited to: Data provision: users that require data and information feeds such as observations, guidance products (e.g. tropical cyclone bulletins), alert (warning) products, etc.; Specialized products: Users that require regional/global products developed to serve GMAS users, and,

16 EC-WG-DRR-II/Doc.4.2.1, page 16 Personalized services: briefings and to various GMAS users for ad-hoc situations Users to be considered in determining user requirements WMO Members; Humanitarian organizations/agencies; General public and private sector Activities to document UR WMO Members will be engaged through a number of activities including a requirements survey, workshops and regional meetings to update and augment the existing requirements information, document good practices and existing initiatives that can be leveraged for GMAS and to gain feedback on drafting the GMAS implementation plan Engagement with the humanitarian community will be accomplished through a requirements survey, bi-lateral meetings with the UN humanitarian agencies and a symposium which will seek to review and consolidate the requirements developed through the requirements documentation phase Engagement with regional suppliers of weather and water warnings and related information will be conducted through a survey, bi-lateral meetings and their participation in the humanitarian symposium.

17 1. Table of actions to document UR, including timeline and responsibilities Date Description of activity Ownership of the process April/May 2018 April/May 2018 August through December 2018 Collecting and aggregating of existing requirements Publishing on internet Development and issuance of UR survey that will seek to update and augment information already obtained from: o WMO Members; o WMO Global and Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres; o Humanitarian agencies; o Regional suppliers (e.g. JRC) Selective interviews targeting representatives of users Provide initial feedback to EC-70 GMAS regional workshops to review and refine outcomes from the WMO Members assessments. These workshops will leverage scheduled meetings such as RA-V-17 (Oct 2018), RA-III (Nov 2018), RA-I-17 (Feb 2019). Identify meetings that can be targeted Bi-lateral meetings with HA to review survey results and obtain further background information; Development of a draft report on GMAS User Requirements that documents the user s requirements, gaps and needs; Secretariat EG GMAS /TT UR Secretariat EG GMAS /TT UR tbd Secretariat Appropriate individuals to conduct interview/side events December 2018 Symposium on humanitarian agencies requirements for weather, water and climate products and services that will seek to refine outcomes from the above activities; Secretariat coordination EG GMAS in with January/Febru ary 2019 Development of a consolidated report of WMO Members and humanitarian agencies requirements which will be submitted to the EC WG on DRR in 2019 for review and recommendations vis-à-vis a design of GMAS. Secretariat coordination EG GMAS in with March/April 2019 Define and implement recurring process to keep requirements current (e.g. RRR like) Secretariat in coordination with EG GMAS

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