The Regional Integrated MultiHazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia

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The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early
Warning System for Africa and Asia
Maldives Secretariat for the Regional Integrated
Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and
Asia (RIMES) Ali Shareef Deputy Director
General, Maldives Meteorological Service
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Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning
System for Africa and Asia (RIMES)
A regional cooperation of 26 countries in Africa
and Asia on multi-hazard early warning. RIMES
aims to cater to differential needs and demands
of member states in addressing gaps in the
end-to-end multi-hazard early warning system.
JUNE 2007 (22)
MARCH 2005 (7)
JULY 2006 (10)
SEP 2008 (26)
DEC 2006 (13)
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RIMES

• Formally established on 30 April 2009, with the
  signing of an international Cooperation
  Agreement, by Cambodia, Comoros, Lao PDR,
  Maldives, and Seychelles
• 21 other countries are in various stages of
  Agreement consideration and approval for signing
• Member States financially contribute upon joining

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RIMES Governance

• Council
• Composed of heads of National Hydro-Meteorological
  Services and national scientific and technical
  agencies generating multi-hazard early warning
  information
• Empowered to make policy decisions concerning
  regional early warning arrangements
• Secretariat
• Carries out the decisions and tasks assigned by
  the Council
• Supports the Program Unit in the management of
  the regional early warning facility
• Maldives is the current RIMES Secretariat

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RIMES Governance cont.

• Program Unit
• Responsible for the day-to-day operation and
  management of the regional early warning facility
• Has financial and administrative autonomy through
  delegated powers and the financial and staff
  regulations approved by the Council
• Co-located with the regional EW facility at the
  campus of the Asian Institute of Technology,
  Thailand

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Executive Board

• Implement policies and decisions of the Council
  for resource mobilization
• Formulate an action plan to provide
  cost-effective services to each Member State
• India as Chair China as Vice-Chair
• Comoros, Lao PDR, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar,
  Seychelles, and Thailand (to be confirmed) as
  Members

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Services

• Provision of regional tsunami watch
• Capacity building and technology transfer to
  NMHSs for providing localized hydro-meteorological
  disaster risk information
• Enhancing capacities to respond to early warning
  information at national and local levels for
  disaster preparedness and management
• Acting as a test-bed to identify promising new,
  emerging technologies, and pilot test, and make
  it operational through demonstration of tangible
  benefits

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Capital Cost

• Capital cost for tsunami information, and
  capacity building of member-countries USD 4.5
  million - UNESCAP
• This compares very favourably with the USD 115
  million required to establish individual tsunami
  EWS for 23 developing/ least developed countries
• Approximate investment cost of Australia, India,
  Indonesia, Iran, and Malaysia approx. USD 250
  million
• Capital cost for weather and climate information,
  and capacity building of member-countries USD 1
  million - Danida

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Recurring Cost

• RIMES total annual recurring cost USD 2.5
  million (for tsunami and all other hazards)
• This compares very favourably with the USD 48
  million annual recurring costs by individual
  countries maintaining separate systems for
  tsunami alone

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Ownership by Countries

• Member States collectively manage and draw
  services from RIMES
• Member States need not put up their own system
• Member States need not depend on other tsunami
  watch providers

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Financial Sustainability

• Maldives received approval of around US 375,000
  from UNESCAP to undertake activities for
  sustaining RIMES
• UNESCAP is supporting test operations of the
  regional facility until 31 December 2009 to allow
  RIMES to mobilize resources for assuming full
  responsibility for regional facility operation by
  1 January 2010
• Transition Agreement (1 August 31 December
  2009) signed between RIMES and ADPC, allowing
  RIMES to initiate and complete constitutional,
  institutional, and financial frameworks for RIMES
  to eventually assume full responsibilities for
  the operation and sustainability of the regional
  EW facility

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A self-reliant RIMES is possible because of

• Economy of scale and scope, with least recurring
  cost
• Integration of all early warning services into
  one holistic system
• System built to address needs and demands of
  countries with differing capacities and
  vulnerabilities
• Catalytic investment by UNESCAP for tsunami and
  capacity building subsystems
• Critical investment by DANIDA for hydro-
  meteorological subsystem to transform EWS into a
  multi-hazard end-to-end early warning system
• Full ownership by Member States

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Thank you