Global workshop on drought vulnerability and impact assessment

 

Background

Upon the request of the Conference of Parties (COP) at its thirteenth Meeting (COP13), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and partner institutions established the Drought Initiative. The Drought Initiative focused on three actions: working together at the regional level to reduce drought vulnerability and mitigate impacts; providing a toolbox that stakeholders can use to boost the drought resilience of both people and ecosystems; setting up drought preparedness system, particularly national drought plans. Following up on the decision, UNCCD has been supporting the development of comprehensive national drought plans. The “Enabling Activities for Implementing UNCCD COP Drought Decisions” project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and jointly implemented by FAO and UNCCD, is currently running to support the operationalization of national drought plans according to the principles of integrated drought management. 

Within the framework of the project, FAO and the Imperial College of London are organizing a global workshop to enhance capacities of selected UNCCD country parties and institutional frameworks in conducting drought impact and vulnerability assessment, monitoring, and reporting and promote harmonized approaches for preparedness. 

 

Objectives

 

To foster a shift towards proactive drought management, FAO conducted a thorough review of the endorsed national drought plans during the first phase of the project. From the analysis, a need emerged for the definition of a global methodology on drought impact, and vulnerability assessment to move forward in the operationalization of national drought plans. 

The global workshop responds to this objective and supports planning and implementation of national drought plans by enhancing knowledge and capacities in the application of advanced and comprehensive methodologies for impact and vulnerability assessment and their inclusion into national strategies for integrated drought management. 

To achieve this goal, the workshop will be organized along different sessions with the objective to: 

1. Provide guidance, tools, and approaches for assessing and monitoring the resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems to drought, with a specific focus on integrating gender considerations. 
2. Map out existing methodologies and showcase country-level best practices for impact and vulnerability assessments along the multiple dimensions of drought. 
3. Define a comprehensive set of databases, including methodologies, metrics, and indicators, and discuss its application for enhanced drought preparedness. 
4. Collect and analyze global impact indicators aligned with UNCCD strategic objectives to reduce ecosystems’ vulnerability to drought and enhance resilience. 
5. Ensure the inclusion of gender considerations in all aspects of drought impact and vulnerability assessment processes, from data collection to analysis and reporting, to address gender-specific vulnerabilities and enhance gender equality in drought resilience efforts. 

Full agenda

TUESDAY 18 JUNE 2024

Introduction

• 08.15 - 08.30: Registration of participants
• 08.30 - 08.45: Welcoming remarks - Imperial College of London, FAO
• 08.45 - 09.00: Tour de table

Session 1 – A review of the concept of vulnerability and impact in the context of the national drought plans

• 09.00 - 09.15: Workshop overview: objectives and agenda - Mr Maher Salman, FAO
• 09.15 - 09.35: The concept of vulnerability and impact under the UN Conventions - Imperial College of London
• 09.35 - 09.55: The 3 pillars of Integrated Drought Management. Tools in support of pillar 2 - Ms Stefania Giusti, FAO
• 09.55 - 10.15: The Drought Risk Assessment Tool - Joint Research Centre – European Commission (JRC)
• 10.15 - 10.30: Q&A session
• 10.30 - 11.00: Coffee break
• 11.00 – 11.15: Vulnerability and impact assessment in the planning process - Mr Maher Salman, FAO
• 11.15 – 11.30: Impact and vulnerability assessment in the national drought plan: a review - Imperial College of London
• 11.30-11.45: The contribution of vulnerability and impact assessment to the Convention: reporting on the Strategic Objective 3 – Ms Sining Cuevas, FAO
• 11.45 – 12.00: Best practices in impact and vulnerability assessment in drought planning: the case of the Philippines - The Philippines delegation
• 12.00 - 12.30: Q&A session and Interactive exercise 1: Developing consensus on Vulnerability
• 12.30 - 13.30: Lunch break

Session 2 – Exploring data sources for vulnerability and impact assessment

• 13.30 - 13.50: In-situ data acquisition for vulnerability and impact assessment - Ms Eva Pek, FAO
• 13.50 - 14.10: Remote sensing-based approaches for vulnerability and impact assessment - Imperial College of London
• 14.10 - 14.30:  Combined methods for retrieving historical impact data: the methodological background of the European Drought Impact Database - Joint Research Centre – European Commission (JRC)
• 14.30 - 14.45: Best practices in participatory data acquisition of drought impacts: the case of Montenegro - The Montenegro delegation
• 14.45 - 15.00: Q&A session
• 15.00 - 15.15: Break
• 15.15 - 16.15: Participatory session 1: Identification of the resource requirement of risk, vulnerability and impact assessment
• 16.15: Wrap-up

 

WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2024

Session 3 – Indicators and methods for mapping drought impact and vulnerability

• 09.00 - 09.20:  The multi-dimensional nature of vulnerability to drought - Imperial College of London
• 09.20 - 09.40: Mainstreaming gender into the vulnerability indicators - Global Water Partnership - CEE/SAF
• 09.40 - 10.00:  Selection of adequate indicators: a review of vulnerability indicators - Imperial College of London
• 10.00 - 10.30: Interactive exercise 2: Indicators of drought vulnerability and relative importance
• 10.30 - 10.45: Coffee break
• 10.45 - 11.00: Drought impacts: a step-wise guide - Ms Sining Cuevas, FAO
• 11.00 - 11.45: Showcasing national-level risk, impact and vulnerability assessments: Grenada, Paraguay and Zambia - Country delegations
• 11.45 - 12.00: Best practices in the assessment of institutional vulnerability: the case of Sri Lanka – The Sri Lanka delegation
• 12.00 - 12.15 : Q&A session
• 12.15 - 13.30: Lunch break
• 13.30 - 13.45: The dimensions of drought impact and vulnerability - Ms Stefania Giusti, FAO
• 13.45 - 14.30:  Showcasing national-level impact and vulnerability assessments: The Philippines, Montenegro, and Sri Lanka - Country delegations
• 14.30 - 14.45: Q&A session
• 14.45 - 15.00: Break 

Session 4 – Drought impact assessment and its role in preparedness

• 15.00 - 15.15: Impact assessment for building resilience: the economic perspective -  Ms Sining Cuevas, FAO
• 15.15 - 15.30: Gender-responsive impact assessment - Global Water Partnership - CEE/SAF
• 15.30 - 15.45: A global tool for drought impact assessment on crop production: the D-IAP - University of Cordoba
• 15.45 - 16.00: Q&A session
• 16.00 - 17.00: Participatory session 2: Constructing drought impact value chain
  
• 17.00: Wrap-up

 

THURSDAY 20 JUNE 2024

Session 5 – Setting strategies for improved vulnerability and impact assessments

• 09.00 - 10.00: Drought country profiles: Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia - Country delegations
• 10.00 - 10.15: The review process of the National Drought Plans - Mr Maher Salman, FAO
• 10.15 - 10.30: Stop-gap strategies for the improvement of assessments: recommendations stemming from the review of the national drought plans - Imperial College of London
• 10.30 - 10.45: Gender mainstreaming into the drought planning and review cycle  - Global Water Partnership - CEE/SAF
• 10.45 - 11.00: Q&A session
• 11.00 - 11.15: Break
• 11.15 - 12.15: Participatory session 3: Stocktaking of steps to review vulnerability and impact assessments in the national drought plans
• 12.15 - 12.45: Roundtable discussion on the gaps and challenges in vulnerability and impact assessments
• 12.45 - 13.15: Interactive exercise 3: Workshop effectiveness
• 13.15 - 13.30: Closure