CREWS was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in Sendai, Japan in 2015. It was launched by five countries – Australia, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands at the 21st COP on Climate Change in Paris, France in 2015. Switzerland joined as a Contributing Member in 2018. CREWS emerged after an assessment revealed the great needs for early warnings in LDCs and SIDS. 88 % of these countries also requested assistance in their Nationally Determined Contributions. CREWS brings together expert institutions to support national and local entities improve service delivery.

The overall objective of CREWS is to substantially reduce disaster mortality by 2030 (Sendai Framework Target A) and to significantly increase access to early warnings and risk information in LDCs and SIDS (Sendai Framework Target G). CREWS provides support to countries to measure early warning access and effectiveness. By so doing, countries are able to identify priorities for programming, institutional capacity development and related resource allocation. CREWS utilizes a multi-hazard, people-centered, impact-based, early warning systems, approach to all of its projects. To ensure that this application is used in countries, initiatives are guided by the programming principles of CREWS that include country driven, gender inclusive,

CREWS is a climate action approach which seeks to close the capacity gap on weather, climate and hydrological services between developed and developing countries with sustained investments in early warning systems.

Ministries with responsibility for NMHSs and for NDMOs
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services,
National Disaster Management or Civil Protection institutions,
Priority Sectors particularly those that address food security
Gender Bureaus
Partners external to CREWS that are also working on EWS initiatives – this is to ensure coherence and connectivity of efforts

All CREWS investment proposals are approved by the Steering Committee. Prior to the approval of approvals, the the Implementing Partners - World Bank GFDRR, WMO and the UNISDR are to develop project briefs base on an established criteria that aims to determine the importance and need of early warning systems. Once approved, the Implementing partners will then develop a much more detailed document inclusive of a logic model and work plan, as well as a risk management section to demonstrate that risks are being assessed and managed. These proposals are developed against the Results Monitoring Framework that has been recently revised to show strong alignment to the Sendai Framework as well as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Following the receipt of funding Implementing Partners hold kick off meetings with identified country leads followed by an official launch. Most projects are for a period of three years and therefore the Steering Committee is provided with an update on project progress bi-annually as per the CREWS operational procedures note. Because CREWS is not meant to replace any existing programming that may be facilitated through either of its Implementing Partners, the project specific logframes will reflect indicators and targets that would have been part of their internal programming. The CREWS Secretariat also monitors the progress of the initiative and is tasked with the responsibility of crafting an overall projection of results for the Steering Committee at its bi-annual meeting.

As the initiative is reaching at its mid-point the Steering Committee will be embarking on an evaluation exercise of the initiative to see firsthand the changes in lives and in how institutions work well or not in a common and collaborative environment

CREWS uses a results-based monitoring framework which outlines the following –
IMPACT of CREWS is aligned to the Sendai Framework which is to substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower average per 100,000 global mortality rate between 2020 – 2030 compared to 2005 - 2015
Outputs
1. National Meteorological and Hydrology Institutions service delivery improved
2. Risk information to guide early warning systems and climate and weather services developed and accessible
3. Information and communication technology, including common alerting protocols strengthened
4. Preparedness and response plans strengthened and accessible
5. Knowledge products and awareness programmes on early warning developed
6. Gender-sensitive training, capacity building programmes provided

Enabling Factors
- Explicit interest and commitment from Governments through Nationally Determined Contributions
- Demonstrated commitment and support by national governments
- Existing partnership arrangements between key national institutions and CREWS implementing partners
- Current/existing programmes that incorporate the CREWS interventions
- Mid to long term commitments provided by development partners and expert institutions
Constraints
- Limited capacity in local focal points but this has been addressed by entering into MoUs with external expert institutions
- Changes in government or the local context

CREWS initiatives build on existing arrangements which increases the sustainability of the results beyond the project timeline. Sustainability is also managed by the robust risk management conducted by the Implementing Partners who cater to and address or reduce likely interruptions to the initiatives.
In West Africa a Community of Practice has been established in 2018 to facilitate knowledge and skills sharing to allow for replication within that region and elsewhere.
The CREWS Secretariat has also supported the design, development and publication of knowledge products to facilitate knowledge sharing and replication. These products include the Multi-Hazard Early Warning Checklist that is available on WMO website and the report on the post disaster assessment of EWS in the Caribbean post 2017 hurricane season.

- Strengthened multi hazard early warning systems can contribute to reducing loss of lives and livelihoods- Creating a coherent investment environment predicated on comparative advantages of partners support sustained development of MHEWS

www.crews-initiative.org