1. www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. Presentation title at-a-glance info (in slide master)  On behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, I have a great pleasure in welcoming you all today to this very important workshop on Common Alerting Protocol.  As the world largest humanitarian organisation, we really experience the usefulness and the value of having effective Early Warning Systems.  We have been able to save many lives in the past by disseminating early warnings and evacuating people before the disaster, thanks to all the players who work tirelessly, from scientists who do the data analysis and forecasts, to volunteers who are at the frontline to disseminate the warnings and evacuate people. Saving Lives

2. www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. Presentation title at-a-glance info (in slide master) Challenges  over 70% of the natural disasters in the world are of hydro- metrological in nature.  The disaster patterns are changing. Frequency and intensity of disasters are increasing. The risk patterns are changing and the vulnerability and exposure of people to disasters are also increasing.  Unpredictability of the hazards due to climate change pose great challenges to scientists to provide accurate forecasts.

3. www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. Presentation title at-a-glance info (in slide master) Reaching the most Vulnerable  A robust warning system should reach the most vulnerable people even in remote areas where accessibility is an issue.  A good early warning system should incorporate user perspectives and try and develop tailor made information to cater to the needs of the users groups such as disaster managers, farmers, agronomists, Irrigation Engineers and so on….  Good early warning mechanism in a country should issue warnings at all timescales – from hours, to days, to weeks, to months, to seasons, to years and decades…….so that we can take early actions not only to carry out our response on a shorter time scales but also to take longer term actions on prevention and risk reduction and to address the root causes of disasters.

4. www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. Presentation title at-a-glance info (in slide master) User Perspectives important  Therefore, while developing standard alert messages, we need to think about number of different factors;  How do we cater to the specific needs of the user groups?  How do we simplify our messages so that volunteers in remote areas are able to disseminate and communicate warnings to the most vulnerable.  How do we ensure that every one can understand our warning messages and act accordingly?  How can we develop messages at different timescale, targeting different user groups?

5. www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. Presentation title at-a-glance info (in slide master)