The African Union (AU) Commission Tuesday officially launched the Space for Early Warning in Africa (SEWA) in Windhoek, the Namibian capital, in a bid to improve climate resilience and disaster preparedness across Sub-Saharan Africa.
By APA special correspndent Muluneh Gebre in Windhoek
Initiated in 2018 jointly by the AU Commission (AUC), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), SEWA is set to support African institutions in accessing and applying space-based data for early warning systems related to hazardous weather and climate events.
Speaking at the event, Moses Vilakati, AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, said SEWA aims to enhance African capacities to produce and deliver space-based services, applications, data and information, for early warning systems related to hazardous weather or climate events.
SEWA was conceived in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in September 2018, where the Abidjan Declaration was signed by the Chair of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET), the African Union Commission, and the Regional Economic Community (RECs).
The European Union has been providing financial support helping the AU Commission translate the Abidjan Declaration into the Space for Early Warning in Africa (SEWA) project.
“Africa stands at the frontline of the climate crisis, but it also stands at the forefront of opportunity hence access to climate and weather services for resilient African economies and communities is not just a call to action, it is a continental imperative,” Jonas Sheelongo, Deputy
Executive Director at the Namibian Ministry of Transport and Works said during the event.
Noting that millions across Africa still lack access to climate and weather services, SEWA is set to provide accurate and reliable data and information on climate matters to farmers, pastoralists, women, youth, and policy-makers.
The SEWA project is expected to enhance resilience of member states through improved access to and use of Earth Observation (EO) meteorological data, and weather services, strengthen human capacities, knowledge and community sharing across the early warning value chain with a focus on space-based data and technologies.
MG/as/APA