Country Workshop on the GRMA offer to Madagascar brings together stakeholders to discuss existing and required climate risk modelling capabilities in-country

A Country Workshop was held in Antananarivo on Feb 22-23, 2023, which brought together over 70 participants from public, private and civil society sectors over the course of two days. The event offered a platform to discuss the status quo on climate risk analysis (CRA), capacities, and needs in relation to climate risk modelling to enhance resilience in Madagascar.

The workshop was followed by an international coordination meeting with CDRFI stakeholders active in Madagascar, with the goal to leverage synergies under the Global Shield framework. During the week, further bilateral meetings were held with key stakeholders to discuss GRMA support in further detail. These included Cellule de Prevention et de la Gestion des Urgences (CPGU), Instat (National Institute of Statistics), FTM (National Institute of Cartography), BNGRC (National Bureau of DRM), DGM (General Directorate of Meteorology), BNCC REDD+/MEDD (Ministry of Environment), and Ministry of Finance.

The objective of the workshop was to engage key officials and subject matter experts in Madagascar, to develop the work programme of support requested within the expression of interest submitted to the InsuResilience Solutions Fund Management by Madagascar’s Cellule de Prévention et d’appui à la Gestion des Urgences (CPGU) in January 2023. Primary discussions during the workshop revolved around how to achieve the following targets:

1. Strengthening long-term local capacities in risk understanding.
2. Co-developing clear (sub-) national risk priorities for application to disaster risk reduction, adaptation and CDRFI, as well as own (sub-) national climate and disaster risk management strategies.
3. Capacity building on modelling techniques and data acquisition: enable sustainable access to open risk modelling data and tools through practical learning / experience.
4. Identifying and finalising work packages, institutions, technical experts for implementing the GRMA program.

During the workshop, the GRMA team together with participants identified the need for threefold support:

1. Good quality and more granular risk and impact information to help with targeted disaster risk response and planning of appropriate prevention measures.
2. Development of locally impact models for the hazards along with macro-economic analysis in face of disaster.
3. Assistance to better understand of projected climate impacts and possible benefits of adaptation and risk-transfer solutions paving path for the Climate Prosperity Plans.

Further consultations with stakeholders were conducted during the GRMA team visit in the country to identify the needs and develop a roadmap for GRMA activities in the country. The GRMA team is to co-develop concrete pathways for GRMA implementation and support to the country with partners, which would form the basis of the forthcoming GRMA application from Madagascar.

The GRMA team is grateful to its hosts in the Cellule de Prevention et de la Gestion des Urgences (CPGU) who helped make this workshop a huge success.