Southern African Development Community, (SADC) Hydromet Forum, co-hosted by SADC Climate Service Centre, World Bank, WMO, EU, and partners takes place virtually on June 22 and 23, 2021
The detailed concept note, program and registration page is on.https://www.hydrometforum2021.org/
The Forum is expected to strengthen the initiatives for improving hydro-meteorological and early warning services in Southern Africa.
The activity is financed by the “Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities” Program, which is an initiative of the African, Caribbean, Pacific Group of States, financed by the European Union and implemented by the World Bank/ Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

Objectives
The main objectives of the SADC Hydromet Forum are to:
● Emphasize regional leadership to strengthening weather, water and climate services in their
global public good function for climate risk management, climate adaptation and disaster risk management;
● Serve as a platform for exchange of knowledge, information and ideas – and stock-taking of progress in modernizing the hydromet landscape of the region;
● Create opportunity for development partners on the needs of sectors and user groups to customize programs and investments and discuss concrete regional and national initiatives and program to support these needs.
● Convene a platform for governments, regional organizations, donors, private sector, civil society, academia, technical community, youth and gender groups to discuss and design the future course of hydromet service modernization and strengthening disaster risk management in West Africa.
● Present findings of regional studies on strengthening weather, climate water and early warning services
● Way forward on resource mobilization for the SADC led strategies, such as the SADC DRR Fund
● Follow up on the SADC DRR Conference, which was held in March 2018 in Pretoria.

Expected Outcomes
● A forum created for climate service providers and users to identify potential solution and mechanisms to build and strengthen network through
exchange of knowledge, sharing of information and ideas.
● A platform created for governments, regional organizations, donors, private sector, civil society, academia, technical community, youth and gender groups to discuss and design the future course of hydromet service modernization and disaster risk management.
● Opportunity created for development partners to understand the needs of various sectors and user groups to customize programs and investments in climate services and disaster risk management.
● Consensus and awareness created among stakeholders about the benefits of investments in weather, water and climate services, early warning systems and early response.
● Report on Strengthening weather, climate water and early warning services – presented to a wide audience
● Way forward developed on resource mobilization for different SADC led initiatives

In Southern Africa a closer coordination and integration of policies and programs for strengthening early warning, disaster risk reduction as well as weather, water and climate services is spearheaded by the Southern African Development Community (SADC). SADC comprises a group of 16 member states (see below overview of member states). Among others it has formulated the SADC Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Plan and coordinates through the SADC Climate Service Center (SADC CSC) the Southern African Climate Outlook Forums. The SADC Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Plan lays out the following key activities:
• Strengthen governance, legal and institutional framework at all levels of DRR in the region;
• Facilitate the identification, assessment and monitoring of disaster risks and support the enhancement of early warning systems at all levels;
• Promote the usage and management of information and knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels in the SADC region;
• Ensure that DRR becomes a national and local priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation; and
• The integration of preparedness and emergency response into national and regional DRR interventions.
The program “Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities”, which is financed by the ACP – EU through the 10th EDF Program,