The 31st Greater Horn of Africa climate outlook forum (GHACOF 31)

The meeting will be held within the framework of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional strategy for mainstreaming climate information in key socio econimic sectors for DRR and sustainable development. The theme of the forum will be “Building resilience to climate related disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa through regional climate forums”.

The Forum will bring together national experts from region, along with regional and international experts involved in seasonal climate prediction and users of climate early warning advisories from sectors such as food security and disaster risk reduction.

The Forum will provide a seasonal climate outlook for the all-important June to September 2012 rainfall season. It will also develop sector specific mitigation strategies based on the consensus regional climate outlook. Further it will provide a regional interaction platform for the climate scientists and various users of climate early warning advisories. In addition, the forum will review lessons / experiences from the use of the products provided in the previous regional climate outlook forums.

Several users’ workshops will also be organized alongside the forum namely: Agriculture and Food Security; Disaster Risk Reduction and Conflict Early Warning; Malaria Early outlook forum (MALOF) and Media to discuss the potential impacts of the regional consensus climate outlook for the June to September 2012 rainfall season and formulate mitigation strategies for various socio-economic sectors.