Africa-Press – Malawi. Natural Resources Minister Patricia Wiskes has said she expects the newly launched Systematic Observations Financing Facility (Soff) Project to enhance Malawi’s weather monitoring capabilities.
Wiskes said this in Blantyre on Wednesday during the official opening of a partners’ coordination meeting on early warning systems.
She said the $3.8 million project would deal with challenges Malawi is facing.
“This support is not merely financial; it is a lifeline that deepens our ability to predict extreme weather events, protect vulnerable communities and drive informed policymaking.
“In a world where climate threats are intensifying, the investment in Malawi’s meteorological infrastructure is an act of solidarity that we deeply cherish,” Wiskes said.
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The five-year project will involve institutional capacity building and upgrading and rehabilitation of four existing meteorological stations at Mlowe, Kasungu Ngabu and Bilira to meet Global Basic Observations Network (GBON) requirements.
It will also include procurement and installation of one automatic upper-air station, in addition to re-introducing upper-air observations, among other aspects.
Soff Deputy Director Olga Miltcheva said the intervention would make forecasting more accurate.
The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS) will implement the project, with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and Iceland Meteorological serving as peer advisors while the World Meteorological Office (WMO) would focus on quality assurance.
WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo said it was important to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Malawians.
“We visited communities that are hardly engaged on early warning systems. We need to empower Malawians so that they are not vulnerable to what climate hazards bring to them. We work with the DCCMS to make sure that they have the capacity to respond to the needs of Malawi,” she said.
The Soft Project also promotes and collaborates with other partners who are implementing related interventions. The partners include Early Warnings for All Initiative and Climate Risk and Early Warning System.
Wiskes also launched the DCCMS Strategic Plan at the event.
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