Participants affirmed that the Arab region is facing increasing climate-related risks and disasters, underscoring the need for the knowledge, resources, institutional capacities and support required to understand risks, prepare for them and take appropriate action to protect lives and property. This requires an approach that goes beyond addressing hazards and their impacts to also tackling the underlying drivers of disaster risk, including development pathways that exacerbate risks, socioeconomic inequalities, environmental degradation, and gaps and weaknesses in governance and institutional capacities.
Reaffirming the need to strengthen early warning systems and preparedness as integral components of a forward-looking and comprehensive approach to disaster risk reduction, participants emphasized the importance of ensuring that warnings are translated into effective preventive action, thereby helping to reduce existing risks, prevent the creation of new risks, and avoid transferring risks to future generations.
Accordingly, we call upon Arab Member States, the League of Arab States, the United Nations, Arab, regional and international organizations, development and financing partners, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the private sector, civil society organizations, scientific and academic institutions, the media, organizations representing persons with disabilities, youth and women’s organizations, local authorities and communities, and all relevant stakeholders to work together to:
1. Prioritize Early Warning Systems: Establish early warning systems as a priority at the national and regional levels, improve understanding of emerging risks, address gaps in existing warning systems, and accelerate joint efforts to achieve comprehensive, effective and sustainable coverage through multi-hazard early warning systems.
This requires sustained national political commitment, strengthened national ownership, and the development of inclusive, high-quality early warning systems integrated into national legislation and planning frameworks and linked to anticipatory action, while harnessing technology and innovation. We also underscore the importance of reporting on progress achieved and strengthening national and regional cooperation and partnerships as key pillars for ensuring the interoperability and coherence of early warning systems.
2. Close Remaining Gaps, Particularly in the Most At-risk Areas: Ensure that multi-hazard early warning systems are inclusive and that warnings reach everyone without exception, providing people with the time, information and means needed to take appropriate preventive action. This requires empowering local communities and relevant stakeholders.
Community-led initiatives should also be integrated into institutional coordination mechanisms and formal decision-making processes. Warnings must be disseminated through trusted, accessible, inclusive and context-appropriate channels, drawing on local knowledge and feedback mechanisms. This includes investing in local capacities, preparedness and resilience to ensure that the most at-risk groups are reached, including persons with disabilities, displaced populations and hard-to-reach communities.
3. Strengthen Disaster Risk Knowledge, Monitoring, Analysis, Forecasting, Warning Dissemination and Response Preparedness: Strengthening disaster risk knowledge depends on the availability of reliable and up-to-date data on hazards, exposure, vulnerability and existing capacities, enabling a comprehensive understanding of risks across the region. This requires collecting, disaggregating and analyzing data by sex, age, geographical location, disability, income level and other relevant criteria, while ensuring data protection and privacy. Such information forms the basis for designing early warning systems, identifying the populations and areas most exposed to risks, and guiding prevention, preparedness, response and disaster risk reduction measures.
It is essential to continuously strengthen comprehensive and real-time climate monitoring networks and to promote joint efforts to share monitoring data among countries and with global and regional centres, thereby supporting the international forecasting system that provides accurate forecasts.
Emphasis is also placed on the importance of expanding the use of cell broadcast technology, location-based text messaging, digital platforms and other emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and supporting all relevant stakeholders in disseminating and communicating warnings.
Countries should invest in resilient and robust digital infrastructure, interoperable data systems and advanced analytical capabilities, including geospatial technology, remote sensing and other complementary tools that supplement official statistics and reliable community-based information. They should institutionalize data-sharing frameworks, adopt international standards for disaster-related statistics, develop institutional capacities and strengthen cooperation among relevant stakeholders to improve the availability, quality and use of risk information.
4. Make Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems a Core Investment Priority: Recognizing that multi-hazard early warning systems constitute national infrastructure providing an essential public service, countries should prioritize their financing and allocate sustainable government funding, complemented by coordinated regional and international investments. They should provide adequate, dedicated domestic financing and strengthen cooperation with the relevant authorities to ensure the sustainability of these systems. Such financing should cover all components of the early warning system.
Emphasis should be placed on ensuring that warnings reach everyone in a timely manner through multiple, integrated channels, supported by appropriate financing and the adoption of relevant international standards and protocols, including Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)-based public warning systems. The financial capacities of local authorities and partners should also be strengthened to link early warning with preparedness and anticipatory action, while ensuring supply chain resilience and business continuity.
5. Strengthen Preparedness and Anticipatory Action: Integrate risk governance, early warning, anticipatory action and recovery readiness into national disaster risk reduction legislation and frameworks, while strengthening coordination across local, national and regional levels, in accordance with established responsibilities, tools, mandates, standard operating procedures, communication channels and pre-arranged financing mechanisms, as essential elements for ensuring timely and effective action.
This also requires strengthening joint emergency planning, conducting simulation exercises with broad stakeholder participation, and enhancing community preparedness to ensure that people know how to respond to warnings and that systems can withstand and manage shocks, including those associated with displacement and protracted crises. Arab regional cooperation and the exchange of good practices should support coordinated action in response to shared hazards and successive shocks with cross-border impacts. The ratification, activation and implementation of the Arab Agreement on Cooperation in the Organization and Facilitation of Relief Operations are also important to facilitate and expedite the cross-border movement of humanitarian personnel, relief supplies and equipment when disasters occur.
6. Ensure that Early Warnings Translate into Effective and Impactful Action: Coordinate efforts among governments and stakeholders to strengthen community resilience, based on clear institutional responsibilities, measurable objectives, and regular monitoring and results-reporting mechanisms. This will help ensure that early warnings translate into effective and impactful action that protects lives and livelihoods and safeguards food and water security as a strategic objective.
Specific national targets should be established, and progress tracked using agreed indicators comprising warning coverage, accessibility, timeliness, accuracy and actionability, as well as the capacity of individuals and institutions to respond. Periodic reviews should also be conducted to identify gaps and implement corrective measures to achieve the intended results and sustain the initiative’s impact beyond 2027.
7. Engage the Media in Disaster Risk Awareness and Early Warning: Integrate media organizations and broadcasters into national early warning and disaster preparedness mechanisms, recognizing them as essential partners in disseminating and communicating official warnings, promoting education and awareness, and fostering cooperation and coordination with educational institutions on disaster risks and preventive measures. Ensure that accurate, reliable and timely information reach all segments of society without exception.
Emphasis should be placed on integrating disaster risk considerations into the planning, design, operation and maintenance of telecommunications infrastructure and broadcasting channels, particularly in fragile contexts. This includes reducing the risks of service disruptions and crosssectoral interdependencies and ensuring the continued availability of spectrum for free-to-air radio and television broadcasting services to disseminate warnings and deliver reliable data and information to the public during and after disasters.
The Way Forward: An Arab Roadmap for Early Warning
We reiterate the call to accelerate the implementation of the Early Warnings for All initiative, scale up its reach and ensure its sustainability across the Arab region. Building and strengthening partnerships and expanding collective action will contribute to developing effective, inclusive and sustainable early warning systems throughout the region. Science, technology, innovation, and the exchange of knowledge and expertise will further support and accelerate these efforts.
Moving from commitments to implementation requires a clear Arab Roadmap for Early Warning, underpinned by political leadership and adequate, sustainable financing. Such a roadmap would help countries and local communities improve preparedness, strengthen early warning and anticipatory action for disaster risk reduction, and build resilience.
We call upon the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, through the Arab Coordination Mechanism for Disaster Risk Reduction, with the support of the four pillars of the Early Warnings for All initiative and all relevant Arab, United Nations, regional and international organizations and institutions, to coordinate follow-up on this Arab call to action and develop an Arab Roadmap and Action Plan for Early Warning to guide implementation through 2030.
Annex: Main Themes of the Recommendations
Summary of Implementation and Follow-up Steps
- At the national level: Begin reviewing legislative frameworks and allocated budgets, and integrate the concepts into curricula and educational institutions.
- At the regional level: Activate communications to establish joint operations rooms for data exchange and coordination of efforts to reduce cross-border disasters.
- At the technical and technological level: Use artificial intelligence and unify dissemination platforms to ensure that accurate, understandable warning messages reach all segments of society.
See the full list of key recommendations, areas for development, and expected impact on the statement's annex.