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Shifting from Response to Prevention

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Torrential rains lashed West and Central African countries this rainy season, setting off flooding and causing considerable damage. On the evening of June 26th alone, nearly 200 millimeters of rain fell on the villages of Malem Hoddar and Malem Thierigne in eastern Senegal. The ensuing flash floods killed at least one person, displaced dozens of families and destroyed hundreds of homes and livestock. As usual, the regional Red Cross office in Dakar mobilized its vast network of donors and volunteers to respond to this and other events. But this season, the organization also did something fundamentally different in its operations.
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Recent news and publications and other notables...

Impact Evaluations of Social Programs: An Overview (by Dan Levy, Harvard Kennedy School) view

Swiss Re and Oxfam America, with technical support from IRI, launch joint risk management initiative
for farmers in Tigray, Ethiopia (Swiss Re)  view

West and Central Africa zone invests in early warning measures (Relief Web) view


Upcoming events and seminars...

October 6, 2008: Graphical Models with a Bayesian Twist for Modelling of Rainfall, Sergey Kirshner, Purdue University view

October 7, 2008: IRI Workshop: Technical Issues in Index Insurance. view

October 9, 2008: Food security policies - how could we apply the principles of research synthesis?
Paul Garner, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine view

October 9, 2008: IRI Seminar: A Nesting Model for Bias Correction of General Circulation Model Precipitation Simulations view

October 15, 2008: IRI Seminar: Climate, Forecast and Impacts Briefing. Our scientists give a global rundown on forecasted temperature and precipitation for the next few seasons and discuss recent
climate-related impacts. view



Special workshop...
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Technical Issues in Index Insurance,
October 7: Numerous technical challenges need to be overcome if index insurance is to contribute to the eradication of poverty at large scales. The IRI is hosting experts from the reinsurance, climate science, economics and food security sectors to identify and discuss these challenges. This workshop also represents an important step in the production of a special issue of Climate and Society focusing on index insurance.
If you would like to learn about index insurance and how it is being used for climate-change adaptation and development, or would like to register to attend please send an email or visit the workshop web page.

Current precipitation forecast

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See all of our forecasts...

For additional resources, please visit our Media Page.