Improvement of Early Warnings Systems

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is supporting the government of Lesotho through the Ministry of Defence, National Security and Environment – Lesotho Meteorological Service (LMS) by implementing a full-Size Project (FSP) entitled “Strengthening climate services in Lesotho for climate resilient development and adaptation to climate change referred to as Early Warning Systems II Project (EWS II). The purpose of EWS II is to reduce the country’s vulnerability and risk to climate change hazards, characterized by irregular and unpredictable rainfall associated with increased floods and landslides, as well as seasonal and prolonged droughts. The EWS II project will achieve this goal through three Components (Table 1) by strengthening the adaptive capacity at the national, district and local levels through the establishment of a complete Early Warning System (EWS), which generates knowledge of the risks (vulnerability & hazard), has capacity to monitor, analyse and forecast hazards, provides communication and dissemination of alerts, warnings, and advisories.

A Stakeholder Capacity Development Needs Assessment in Climate Change Adaptation was conducted in 2011. Its purpose was to identify priority capacity needs for climate change adaptation in Lesotho. The assessment aimed to facilitate the implementation of capacity development and training needs in the various stakeholder sectors, all geared toward addressing the effects of climate change in the country. Among the key findings, it underscored the necessity of addressing deficiencies in policies, institutions, and legislation.