Five-day residential training on effective implementation of Impact Based Forecasting (IBF) in the South Asian region held in Bangladesh

A five-day residential training on the implementation of Impact Based Forecasting (IBF) in the South Asian region was held from 6 to 10 February in Dhaka, Bangladesh last week. Participants from Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka joined National Hydromet Service Providers and sectoral representatives as well as humanitarian actors from Bangladesh at the program.

In the context of South Asia, where extreme weather and climate events can have significant social, economic, and environmental impacts, impact-based forecasting is particularly important. By focusing on the potential impacts of weather and climate events on different sectors, such as agriculture, transport, health, and disaster management, meteorologists and hydrologists can provide decision-makers with timely, accurate, and relevant information that can help to reduce the risks and costs associated with such events.

The training provided an opportunity for the participants to learn from each other and interact with the user sectors and humanization actors for improved development and delivery of effective IBF in the South Asia region. The training also reinforced the concepts and techniques that were taught to the participants during the online preparatory training held earlier in January.

Sessions on weather and climate hazards, probabilistic forecasts, evaluation of risks, use of decision support systems (DSSs) to implement IBF among others were administered through a combination of interactive lectures, group discussions, and hands-on activities. Meanwhile, Mid (M) and Expert (E) level trainings are also being planned for mid-level professionals like meteorologists, hydrologists, engineers and forecasting technicians, and senior management officers and specialists in the upcoming months.

“This is a great initiative to mitigate the effects of extreme weather and climate events, and strengthen forecasting capacity and overall resilience. And, I think impact-based forecasting is key to addressing these issues systematically.”, said Mr. Azizur Rahman, Director, Bangladesh Meteorological Department, in his concluding remarks.

The training series is a part of the capacity enhancement component of the World Bank supported ‘South Asia Hydromet Forum’ (SAHF) program implemented by RIMES which aims to mainstream the capacity-building needs of NMHSs in the region, addressing them systematically through tailor-made training programs.

It aims to create a significant number of in-country expertise that can conduct further sub-national workshops for competence building in the use of IBF. All the training resources will remain fully accessible through the SAHF Knowledge-hub for sustained use and will be updated to keep pace with latest tools and know-how.