On 8 August, the SRSG to the African Union and Head of UNOAU, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga attended a meeting on the Africa Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Early Action System (MHEWEAS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, focusing on ‘increasing early warning and action in Africa’.

The meeting was hosted by the Ambassador of Kenya to Ethiopia and the AU, Mrs. Jean Kamau, and the Ambassador of Denmark to Ethiopia and the AU, Mrs. Kira Sindbjerg, in advance of the Africa Climate Summit (ACS), scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4 to 6 September 2023. The AU Director of Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy, Mr. Harsen Nyambe, and the Technical Coordinator of the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Unit at the AU Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Sustainable Economy, Dr. Gatkuoth Kai, briefed on progress made in the implementation of the AU Institutional and Operational Framework for MHEWEAS in Africa, as endorsed by the 35^th Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government in February 2022.

The AU representatives also updated on the integration of the AU action plan and the ‘Early Warning for All’ initiative, formally launched by the UN Secretary-General in November 2022 at the Conference of the Parties (COP)27 meeting. Early warning, but also climate financing for a just transition, will be topics for discussion at the ACS in September. The SRSG  welcomed the update from the AU Commission (AUC) colleagues, underscoring the importance of Multi-Hazard Early Warning (MHEW), the UN Secretary-General’s ‘Early Warning for All’ initiative, and the integration of climate risk reduction and early warning to mitigate climate change impacts on Africa’s peace and security landscape. The SRSG also underscored the UN support for President William Ruto’s initiative to convene the ACS.