Despite its importance to confront the threat of natural disasters, half of the world's countries do not have early warning systems

Early warning systems contribute a lot to reducing the risks of natural disasters, and despite experts stressing the importance of these systems in light of the increasing number of natural disasters, many countries of the world still do not care about them.

According to a report issued by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization, on October 13, entitled “The overall situation of multiple early warning systems; less than half of the world’s countries still do not have early warning systems.” .

The report - which dealt with the latest statistics in this field - indicated that countries with early warning systems were able to reduce the number of deaths and people affected by disasters by up to 8 times.

Investing in early warning systems

The question that comes to mind is: why half of the world's countries do not have early warning systems, despite their importance? Is it because its cost is so high that it is beyond the reach of poor and middle-income countries? Or is there indifference to the topic?

The answer to the question can be found in the press release issued on October 13 by the World Meteorological Organization, which is not a direct answer, but the statement hints that its cost may be the reason that countries that do not have such devices are poor countries.

"The countries of the world do not invest in protecting the lives of their citizens or in early warning systems (...) the countries that have not contributed to the rise in greenhouse gases and the climate crisis that are paying the highest price," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the press release.

"The world knows today an increase in the number of extreme natural and climatic disasters, but they should not turn into fatal phenomena because we can avoid that," he added.

According to the press release, there are two types of early warning systems: the first is for one disaster, and the second relates to several disasters, and it can be used to warn of several disasters such as floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

According to the report, the latest statistics dating back to last March indicate that only 95 countries have stated that they have early warning systems, while in 2015 there were only 47 countries.

The number of countries that provided information on their preparations to face disasters reached 120, of which only 10 are Arab countries.

A UN initiative to support poor countries

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization, is preparing to launch an initiative to popularize the use of early warning systems in poor countries that will continue until 2027.

"We can do better, we must make sure to provide poor countries with these systems, and we do it very quickly," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in the press release.

According to the report, the countries of the world are required to cooperate and solidarity in order to achieve the goals set out in the "Sendai Convention" to reduce the risk of natural disasters, which will have effect from 2015 to 2030.

The report stated that the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Meteorological Organization will present during the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Summit an international plan of action to reduce the risk of natural disasters, which will be more effective to achieve the goals of the "Sendai Convention."