The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) organized the first in-person Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE) for South Asia Regional Workshop from October 19-21, 2022. The event, which was held in Hilton Sukhumvit in Bangkok, Thailand and was livestreamed through Zoom, gathered over 150 onsite and virtual participants representing different government agencies, international development, and non-government organizations from the South Asian Region (SAR) for in-depth discussions on CARE project progress, key milestones, and implementation adjustments moving forward.
CARE for South Asia is a 5-year initiative, 2020 to 2025, supported by the World Bank that aims to contribute to an enabling environment for climate-resilient policies and investments in the region via two components. RIMES is implementing Component 1, which is focused on promoting evidence-based climate smart decision-making through the i) expansion of the SAR Regional Resilience Data and Analytics Services (RDAS); ii) strengthening of national-level sectoral decision support systems (DSS) for the participating countries, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan; and the iii) conduct of capacity trainings for climate-informed decision-making. ADPC, on the other hand, is implementing Component 2, which is concentrated on enhancing policies, standards, and capacities for climate-resilient development in SAR.
The workshop was divided into three segments, with Day 1 (October 19) centered on project implementation progress reporting by implementing agencies and Sectoral Focal Points (SFPs); proposed implementation modalities/strategies; and the scope for 2022-2023 and beyond.
Day 2 (October 20) highlighted the outputs so far produced under CARE Project Component 1. It showcased the updated features of the RDAS and provided a detailed walk-through of DSSs being developed by RIMES for ingesting climate information in plans and decisions in key sectors in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, and discussions for threshing specific user requirements to be addressed by RDAS and the DSSs.
Finally, on Day 3 (October 21), the Climate Adaptation Platform (CAP-South Asia) led by ADPC had its second meeting. Discussions centered on the regional outcomes of national dialogues organized in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan on the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus.