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Throughout the East African region, including Ethiopia and South Sudan, hazards threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. More than 90 percent of disasters affecting this region are climate-related, including droughts and floods, whose intensity and frequency are increasing due to climate change. Mozambique is especially susceptible to floods, droughts and tropical cyclones exacerbated by its coastal geography.

A study tour was organized, which provided a platform for delegations from Ethiopia and South Sudan, as well as representatives from IGAD Climate Prediction & Applications Centre (ICPAC), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) to learn from Mozambique’s experience in establishing and operationalizing the National Multi-Hazard Early Warning Situation Room of the Instituto Nacional de Gestão e Redução do Risco de Desastres (INGD) Centro Nacional Operativo de Emergência (CENOE). Mozambique’s situation room was modernized and inaugurated in September 2025 as part of the Africa Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Early Action System (AMHEWAS) network. AMHEWAS was designed to increase the availability and accessibility of multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) and disaster risk information across the continent. The situation room is a multi-sectoral coordination structure that brings together the main actors involved in disaster risk management in Mozambique.

This study tour also served as a South-South Cooperation and peer-learning engagement, facilitating the exchange of valuable lessons and best practices in early warning and disaster risk reduction and management among Mozambique and the participating countries and organizations. This tour was made possible through the Water at the Heart of Climate Action project, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ethiopia and South Sudan have national situation rooms planned to be part of the AMHEWAS network.

During the study tour, all three countries presented their experiences regarding policy, legal and institutional frameworks for disaster risk reduction, and on the status of their individual Early Warnings for All roadmaps.

The following day, participants visited INGD CENOE, where technicians presented on monitoring, early warning systems, and data analysis. INGD CENOE staff highlighted the engagement of theNational Institute of Meteorology (INAM), the National Directorate of Water Resources Management (DNGRH), and the Mozambique Red Cross Society as part of their situation room operations.

Participants were also able to see an example of the application of CENOE products at the local level. The delegation visited the INGD Maputo City Office, where they learned about how community volunteers utilise early warnings after they are disseminated. INGD brought attention to the necessity of training volunteers extensively on the evacuations of local populations, to ensure these volunteers are equipped for various challenges, namely ensuring that alerts reach all people in a community (especially women, children, people with disabilities).

“…But the most important takeaway here is that you must work with people. You must work with the right people. [INGD] is a very powerful institution. It could be small in terms of staffing, but the powers and mandates and roles really work, because they’re enshrined in the legal framework and in the constitutions, and the people really know what to do.”

Dr Banak Joshua Dei Wal, Director General, South Sudan Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management (MHADM)

Additionally, INGD shared their experiences with drone technology. INGD explained that increasing public budget allocation and establishing aviation and data privacy regulations are essential for the effective management of drone technology. These lessons are particularly relevant for Ethiopia, which is in the process of acquiring drone technology with support from the World Bank for application in similar areas.

The tour closed with the participants agreeing on 14 key lessons that they would take back home to Ethiopia and South Sudan. These included lobbying for formal agreements and Standard Operating Procedures that allow situation rooms to access and use data necessary for their operation; enabling measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of situation room operations; and understandingthe acute need for a strong culture of coordination between organisations associated with a situation room. At the official close of the visit, all three countries agreed that they would continue to support one another in their DRR efforts.

“We were able to reach this current level of data proficiency because we got support in the past from other countries. The idea now is to take that experience that we got from those partners, and the experience we built by ourselves, and translate it to support to other countries. I’m talking about partners like South Sudan and Ethiopia, so that they can have the same level of data management and also have expertise in different areas such as drones that we are responsible for here in Mozambique as the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management.”

Jose Cumbe, Information Officer at INGD CENOE

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Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has launched a new health project in Southwest Ethiopia Region, Ethiopia, marking the beginning of a stable presence in the area. The project started in 2025 following assessments that identified unmet medical needs in a region that is home to more than three million people, and highly susceptible to recurrent outbreaks of malaria, measles, cholera, and other infectious diseases.

This new project aims to establish an agile response capacity in a region with remote communities who are particularly vulnerable during recurrent outbreaks and health emergencies. We also aim to strengthen the capacity of the local health system to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks, while improving access to higher quality, free healthcare.

MSF currently supports Jemu and Aday Ababa health centres and Bachuma Primary hospital, with a focus on strengthening referral capacity, emergency preparedness, infection prevention and control measures, and water, sanitation, and hygiene services. Activities are implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the local health authorities, reinforcing coordination and long-term health system resilience.

Key work includes the establishment of an infection prevention and control committee with regular coordination meetings, and the provision of hygiene materials, personal protective equipment, and waste management supplies.

We are also making major improvements to water systems through infrastructure rehabilitation and installation of solar-powered water supply systems. At Bachuma Primary hospital, MSF has established a six-bed isolation ward to enable the rapid and safe management of suspected infectious disease cases.

Emergency and specialist care have also been strengthened through donations of essential medicines, medical supplies, and biomedical equipment. These efforts are complemented by training for Ministry of Health staff, support to routine health data collection, and community-level hygiene promotion and engagement activities.

“Through this new project, MSF is building a stable presence in the Southwest Ethiopia Region to support communities that face repeated health emergencies and limited access to care,” says Sayeed Aleem, MSF emergency coordinator in Ethiopia. “By working alongside local authorities and health staff, we aim to strengthen outbreak preparedness, improve infection prevention, and reinforce essential health services for communities.”

Overall, MSF’s support is contributing to improved outbreak preparedness, stronger infection prevention systems, and more resilient health services across the facilities where we are working in Southwest Ethiopia Region.