A WISER Approach - co-development of Weather and Climate Information Services across Africa, Asia and the Pacific through the UK Government funded WISER Programme
- Met Office, Exeter, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales (jane.strachan@metoffice.gov.uk)
The Weather and Climate Services (WISER) programme delivers transformational change in the quality, accessibility and use of weather and climate information services at local, national, and regional levels. Since its inception in Africa in 2015, WISER has built resilience to the impacts of climate change and supported long term sustainable development for people, communities, and institutions. The WISER programme is funded via the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and is managed by the UK Met Office.
Between 2015-2021 WISER focused primarily on building weather and climate information services capacity in the East Africa region, with additional focussed activity in the Sahel and since 2022, the WISER programme has expanded in response to other regional weather and climate vulnerabilities. The suite of programmes now includes an expanded footprint in East, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and from 2023 it has built on the successes of the Asia Regional Resilience to a Changing Climate (ARRCC) programme to support South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
The existing WISER programme builds on the transformational change delivered through previous iterations of WISER and provides an opportunity to replicate, innovate and expand into new areas, build on existing and new regional partnerships, and drawing on lessons learnt and good practice. The activities now aim engage with a wider range of stakeholders to support and improve the uptake and mainstreaming of weather and climate information services into policy, planning and decision making.
This presentation will look at the history of the WISER programme, the principles of the WISER approach, particularly It’s approach to gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), and provide examples of WISER projects currently underway.
How to cite: Strachan, J.: A WISER Approach - co-development of Weather and Climate Information Services across Africa, Asia and the Pacific through the UK Government funded WISER Programme, EMS Annual Meeting 2024, Barcelona, Spain, 1–6 Sep 2024, EMS2024-895, https://doi.org/10.5194/ems2024-895, 2024.
