Abstract

CONFER is an EU-funded research project that focuses on climate adaptation through co-production of climate services in East Africa. Its main objective is to co-develop dedicated climate services for the water, energy and food security sectors with stakeholders and end-users, to enhance their ability to plan for and adapt to seasonal climate fluctuations. Thus, it works to reduce disaster risks associated with climate extremes.

CONFER works with stakeholders, including ICPAC (The IGAD Climate Predictions and Applications Centre), to increase the resilience of the people of the East African region to climate extremes. ICPAC is a designated Regional Climate Centre (RCC) by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) mandated to provide climate services to 11 East African countries. The Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) is prone to extreme climate events such as droughts and floods.

CONFER also works with stakeholders to arrange quality training for people in the region to provide and disseminate climate services. In June 2022, the project organized a synergy-building training workshop for stakeholders from four countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

The workshop was one of a series of training activities under work package 4 of the CONFER project on capacity building (see annex III), led by NORCAP, a member of the implementing consortium. The overall objective was to improve and overcome challenges of climate service delivery whilst bridging the gaps in effective climate service delivery.

The aim of the training was to seek understanding and build synergy between national meteorological authorities, policy makers, private sector and journalists in using, communicating and disseminating the climate information that ICPAC produces. ICPAC has also developed a suite of online weather, climate, hazards and risk information visualization platforms for the East Africa region. One of these tools is the East Africa Hazards Watch and Drought Watch systems that aggregates data and risk information from different sources and sectors, and presents them on an interactive web platform.