East Africa Boosts Gender, Social Inclusion in EWS – Mirage News

Report on Regional Training for Inclusive Early Warning Systems in East Africa and its Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals

1.0 Introduction

A regional training initiative was conducted in Naivasha, Kenya, from 30 September to 3 October 2025, to advance the integration of gender and social inclusion within Early Warning Systems (EWS). The event, co-organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UN Women with financial support from the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative, directly supports the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The training convened over 30 participants, including representatives from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and partner organizations, to build capacity for people-centered climate services.

• Participating Nations: Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
• Core Objective: To ensure EWS are inclusive and responsive, thereby strengthening community resilience in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

2.0 Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The training’s objectives are fundamentally linked to the global SDG framework, with a significant emphasis on creating equitable and resilient societies.

1. SDG 5: Gender Equality: The primary focus was on mainstreaming gender perspectives to ensure that early warnings effectively reach and empower women and girls, who are often disproportionately affected by climate-related disasters. This contributes directly to Target 5.5 (ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership).
2. SDG 13: Climate Action: By strengthening EWS, the initiative directly addresses Target 13.1 (strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters). An inclusive EWS is a critical component of effective climate adaptation strategies.
3. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities: The training explicitly targeted the inclusion of youth, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups, working towards Target 10.2 (empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all).
4. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The collaborative nature of the event, involving UN agencies (WMO, UN Women), national governments, and non-governmental organizations, exemplifies the multi-stakeholder partnerships required to achieve the SDGs (Target 17.16).

3.0 Key Training Outcomes and Strategic Actions

The four-day workshop produced tangible outcomes designed to translate policy into practice at national and regional levels, advancing key SDG targets.

• Development of Action Plans: Participants drafted national Gender and Social Inclusion Action Plans. These plans provide a strategic roadmap for NMHSs to implement inclusive practices, a crucial step for localizing SDG 5 and SDG 13.
• Capacity Building: Sessions focused on practical tools for gender-responsive leadership, social inclusion mapping, and participatory planning. This enhances the institutional capacity needed to deliver on climate action and gender equality commitments.
• Knowledge Sharing: Case studies, such as Malawi’s community-based EWS, demonstrated successful models for integrating gender perspectives, facilitating peer-to-peer learning and accelerating progress across the region.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Participants agreed on mechanisms to track progress using gender-disaggregated indicators and representation metrics, ensuring accountability and evidence-based implementation of policies related to SDG 5 and SDG 10.

4.0 Future Directives and Regional Coordination

The training concluded with a clear commitment to sustained action, establishing a foundation for long-term impact on regional resilience and sustainable development.

• National Implementation: The drafted action plans will now guide the integration of gender and social inclusion into national climate and disaster risk reduction frameworks.
• Regional Networking: The event fostered a network of gender champions who will continue to collaborate through the WMO Regional Association (RA) I Gender Focal Point Network. This network will serve as a platform for ongoing support and coordination, reinforcing the partnership principles of SDG 17.
• Commitment to Inclusivity: Participants reaffirmed their dedication to advancing gender equality and social inclusion, ensuring that future climate services and early warning systems in East Africa are designed to protect and empower the most vulnerable populations.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Addressed in the Article

The article on the Regional Training on Mainstreaming Gender and Social Inclusion in Early Warning Systems (EWS) addresses several interconnected Sustainable Development Goals. The core themes of gender equality, climate action, reducing inequality, and partnerships are prominent throughout the text.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

This is a central theme of the article. The training’s primary objective was to “strengthen the integration of gender and social inclusion within weather and climate services and early warning systems.” The entire initiative, co-organized by UN Women, focuses on making early warnings “responsive to the needs of women” and creating “Gender and Social Inclusion Action Plans.” The emphasis on “gender-responsive leadership” and building a “network of gender champions” directly supports the goal of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

SDG 13: Climate Action

The article is fundamentally about adapting to climate change. Early Warning Systems (EWS) are a critical tool for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The training aims to improve these systems in East Africa, a region vulnerable to climate-related hazards. By strengthening EWS, the initiative directly contributes to building resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related disasters, which is a key aspect of taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

The training explicitly aims to ensure that early warnings are “inclusive, people-centered, and responsive to the needs of women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups.” This focus on social inclusion and addressing the specific needs of marginalized populations is at the heart of SDG 10, which seeks to reduce inequality within and among countries by empowering and promoting the social inclusion of all.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The event itself is a model of partnership. The article states that the training was “co-organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UN Women, with financial support from the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative.” It brought together participants from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and non-governmental organizations from ten different countries. This multi-stakeholder collaboration across international organizations, national governments, and civil society to build capacity is a clear example of SDG 17 in action.

Specific SDG Targets Identified

Based on the article’s content, several specific targets under the identified SDGs can be pinpointed.

1. SDG 5: Gender Equality

   • Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life. The training’s focus on “gender-responsive leadership” and creating a “network of gender champions” aims to enhance women’s roles and leadership within the meteorological and disaster risk reduction community.
   • Target 5.c: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels. The development of “Gender and Social Inclusion Action Plans” for national institutions and the review of “national gender and inclusion frameworks” are direct actions toward implementing policies for gender equality.

2. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries. The entire initiative is focused on improving Early Warning Systems (EWS), which are a cornerstone of strengthening resilience to climate-related disasters.
   • Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning. The four-day training event for over 30 participants is a direct capacity-building activity aimed at improving institutional ability to deliver effective and inclusive early warnings.

3. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. The article explicitly mentions the goal of making EWS “responsive to the needs of women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups,” which directly aligns with this target.

4. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.9: Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals. The training, supported by international bodies like WMO, UN Women, and CREWS for participants from ten East African countries, is a clear example of targeted capacity-building.
   • Target 17.16: Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources. The collaboration between WMO, UN Women, NMHSs, and NGOs exemplifies such a multi-stakeholder partnership.

Indicators for Measuring Progress

The article mentions or implies several indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets.

1. Explicit Indicators

   • Gender-disaggregated indicators: The article explicitly states that participants “agreed on mechanisms to track progress using gender-disaggregated indicators.” This is a direct and quantitative way to measure the impact of policies on different genders.
   • Representation metrics: The text also mentions tracking progress through “representation metrics.” This could refer to measuring the number or proportion of women in leadership positions or technical roles within NMHSs and related disaster management bodies.

2. Implied Indicators

   • Number of Gender and Social Inclusion Action Plans developed and implemented: The article highlights that a key outcome was participants “drafted Gender and Social Inclusion Action Plans for their institutions.” The existence and subsequent implementation of these plans serve as a key indicator of progress.
   • Number of trained personnel: The article mentions “over 30 participants” from ten countries were trained. This number serves as an indicator of capacity-building efforts (relevant to Target 13.3).
   • Establishment and activity of the gender champion network: The creation of a “network of gender champions to promote equality” is an outcome. The activity level and influence of this network can be an indicator of sustained commitment to gender equality (relevant to Target 5.5).

Summary of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: miragenews.com