The Sahel region is known for its vulnerability to extreme weather events. In anticipation of the 2024 heat season, which is expected to be extremely hot, it is crucial for meteorological agencies, public health services, and humanitarian actors to come together to understand, prepare for, these events to mitigate the potential impacts. To this end, the Anticipation Hub, with support from the Red Cross Climate Centre and the Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de la Meteorologie of Senegal (in its Regional Specialised Meteorological Center capacity) is hosting a series of three webinars on Sahelian heat waves on 23, 30 April and 07 May 2024.

Objective

The primary objective of this series of webinars is to raise awareness of the particularity of the predicted extreme heat this year and provide a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing among meteorological agencies, public health services, disaster managers, researchers and humanitarian actors to enhance preparedness and response efforts.

Key Themes

1. Extreme heat trends in the Sahel and outlook for the 2024 Heat Season: An overview of observed and projected trends in temperatures/heat waves in the Sahel region, insights from global climate drivers and forecasts for the April-June 2024 season.

2. Impacts on Public Health and relevant sectors: Review of the state of the research on the impacts of Sahelian extreme heat events, including health impacts on vulnerable populations, impacts on livelihood, water and energy. The availability and access of data across different sectors will be discussed.

3. Preparedness and Response Strategies: Best practices on extreme heat risk management in the Sahel and elsewhere, including early warning early action systems, heat wave action plans, and community outreach initiatives and the role of government and humanitarian organisations.

Language

The sessions will be in French and English and livestream translation will be provided.