The HKH DRR Hub: Building a safer HKH through early warnings for all. Workshop Proceedings

ICIMOD hosted the first Hindu Kush Himalaya Disaster Risk Reduction Hub (HKH DRR Hub) in December 2024, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The theme, designed to complement the goals set by the global Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, focused on drawing on knowledge and experience from international and regional experts across the Hindu Kush Himalaya(HKH) through their expertise of piloting solutions and addressing the transboundary nature of disasters in the region.

Through the deliberations, three key messages emerged:

1. Leveraging tools that utilise artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning(ML) will greatly improve the forecast-based capabilities of Community-Based Flood Early Warning Systems (CBFEWS), building on ICIMOD’s experience of these systems. Institutions such as the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection (SKLGP), China, have utilised ML to great effect in tracking the origin and occurrence of disasters including landslides with great accuracy. Lessons from such institutions are valuable in informing other efforts on early warning systems(EWS) being carried out across the HKH.
2. Forecast requirements are increasingly focusing on impact-based forecasting, especially given the multi-hazard nature of disasters in the region. This means moving from prediction to examining potential impacts of hazards on people and infrastructure. Different agencies including ICIMOD have developed impact-based tools like the High-Impact Weather Assessment Toolkit (HIWAT), which are relevant with stakeholders including governments and disaster management authorities. However, given the multi-hazard nature of risks, more resources including advanced computing infrastructure and policy support in kind is required from governments.
3. Reducing impacts and safeguarding lives, especially of the most socially and economically vulnerable remains a key priority. With improvements in EWS, lead-time to respond to floods have improved.