UN agencies unite efforts in humanitarian early warning website

The United Nations humanitarian agencies and partners of the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC), a body that fosters enhanced interagency collaboration, recently launched the Humanitarian Early Warning System website (HEWSweb) a common platform for humanitarian early warnings.

This website (HEWSweb) displays early warning information available at the global level through forecasts, reports and alerts on droghts, floods, tropical storms, locust infestation, El Niño, earthquakes and volcanic activity. After events such as the Indian Ocean tsunami and the recent floods in several Latin American countries, enhanced early warning systems, humanitarian preparedness and response as well as risk reduction are key elements in responding to crisis situations in a coordinated and efficient manner.

HEWSweb is supported by a variety of partners including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN refugee organization (UNHCR), UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as a consortium of international non-governmental organizations. The free information service given by the HEWSweb Nations is coordinated and managed by the WFP on behalf of the IASC and its members.

To visit the site please click here.