15 February 2023

Early warning and early action for flood risks, torrents, and drought in Sudan: Implementation of the Sendai Framework

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Arab States

Khartoum, 13 February 2023, The National Council for Civil Defense in Sudan and the Regional Science and Technology Advisory Centre held the second National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Sudan, in cooperation with the Federal Government, the Arab Science and Technology Advisory Group, and UNESCO.

The event was an important opportunity to reflect on the progress made and the challenges that lie ahead and aimed to raise awareness about the various hazards facing Sudan, including floods, torrents, and droughts, which are the main causes of concern in the country, and identify more concrete collaboration opportunities that ultimately assists the government of Sudan in effectively implementing the Sendai Framework and more importantly strengthens the resilience of its people.

The platform focused on water-related hazards and their mitigation and addressed key topics such as disaster risk reduction concepts, flood risk management, the impact of floods, torrents, and droughts, and the role of different ministries in reducing disaster risks. The aim was to create a better understanding of risk and vulnerability so that the country is better prepared to mitigate disasters when they occur and save more lives.

"We should not look at floods hazards in isolation, we have to focus on the underlying vulnerabilities of the population and strengthen their capacity to withstand systemic and a multitude of other natural and manmade hazards,” said the Chief of UNDRR Regional Office for Arab States Sujit Mohanty.

Over the years, hazards have had a significant impact on the livelihood of people in Sudan, causing damages and losses and putting a strain on national development plans. In 2020, for example, floods caused severe damage in the country, killing 99 people, collapsing tens of thousands of homes, and affecting more than half a million people, according to the Ministry of Interior.

To address these challenges, UNDRR, with the support and collaboration of the National Council of Civil Defense, embarked on a number of important areas of work, this includes drafting a plan for the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Sudan, which will allow effective coordination among the key actors of DRR; conducting a feasibility study on multi-hazard early warning system in Sudan; and carrying a scoping exercise for multi-hazard and multi-dimensional risk assessment. UNDRR is also implementing the global risk assessment framework and programmes to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction through a comprehensive risk management approach.