Indian Ocean Member States and Steering Group report on Progress, Challenges and Gaps in the lead-up to the 13th Session of the ICG/IOTWMS

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) convened intersessional meetings of its Member States and Steering Group during 23-25 November 2021.

Attendees at the ICG/IOTWMS Intersessional Meeting, online, 23-24 November 2021.

The ICG/IOTWMS Intersessional Meeting was held online to address progress, challenges and gaps at the national and regional levels. The meeting was attended by over 100 people including the ICG/IOTWMS Secretariat, Steering Group and National Delegates from 19 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and United Arab Emirates. Most national delegations had representation from both the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) and Disaster Management Organisations (DMO). Further details of participants and presentations are available on the event website: https://oceanexpert.org/event/3300.

Key recommendations arising during the Intersessional Meeting included:

Although more than normal DMOs attended this intersessional meeting, still need involve more DMOs in Working Groups and Task Teams;

Need to ensure critical infrastructure covered by Tsunami Ready programme;

Need for a new Working Group focused on Tsunami Ready;

Need to utilise UN Ocean Decade as an opportunity to develop IOTWMS to achieve more timely and more accurate tsunami warnings to Tsunami Ready communities;

Need to improve access to real-time data;

Need to take lessons learnt for UNESCAP project in North-West Indian Ocean and benefit rest of the Indian Ocean;

NTWCs need to respond to atypical tsunamis;

All Member States to review their national tsunami warning and response procedures and protocols to take into account COVID-19;

IOWAVE Exercise to be held 2023;

Standard Operating Procedure training eastern and western Indian Ocean 2022;

Secretariat develop online tool for IOTWMS status monitoring; and

Working Groups need develop work plans to address issues identified in 2018 Capacity Assessment

Furthermore, it was decided to hold the ICG/IOTWMS-XIII during the week of 16th May as a precursor UN Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR 2022) in Bali, Indonesia. The final session format (hybrid or in-person) will be confirmed at a later stage following a risk assessment and further consultation with all ICG/IOTWMS Member States.

The ICG/IOTWMS Steering Group meeting was held online immediately following the Intersessional Meeting. The meeting served as an opportunity to review the key recommendations and issues arising during the Intersessional Meeting and refine its workplan in the lead-up to the ICG/IOTWMS-XIII.

Attendees at the ICG/IOTWMS Steering Group Meeting, online, 25 November 2021.