The 19th Session of the Africa Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction was held from 14-16 March 2023 in Malabo, Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

On 12 June 2023, the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) East Africa Initiative, a four-year USD 7 million collaboration between UNDRR, the World Meteorological Organization and the World Bank was launched in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Caribbean private sector has also invested in these disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts. During and after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017, businesses in the region grew more conscious of the risks posed by multiple hazards.

Today ECOWAS inaugurated its new Disaster Operations Centre in Abuja to strengthen regional coordination and improved data and information exchange among its Member States.

An estimated 111 million people are better protected against climate-related hazards thanks to early warning systems put into place in 2022 by the Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative.

Thanks to anticipatory action and investment in early warning efforts by the Government of Mozambique with support of the United Nations, the number of deaths and people displaced by Cyclone Freddy is lower than in past comparable cyclones.

Trust is critical to effective risk communication. Where communities feel they are not receiving or able to understand or trust the warnings being disseminated, they are less likely to take action in the face of a hazard.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has been working to support various organizations across the Caribbean to incorporate multiple hazards into their understanding of EWS.