Background
Lesotho, a small landlocked country entirely surrounded by South Africa, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climatechange. With its growing population and rapid urbanisation, the country faces hotter and drier conditions in the coming decades, coupled with more frequent droughts, floods, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss. Agriculture, water resources, health, and tourism are among the sectors most vulnerable, exacerbating challenges associated with poverty and land degradation. While the Lesotho Meteorological Services manages a national network of over 90 meteorological stations, many are in disrepair, data access remains limited, and dissemination mechanisms are not user-friendly or sufficiently inclusive. Early warning systems exist but remain fragmented, heavily reliant on public gatherings, radio, and SMS messages, without the integration of more advanced technologies such as Cell Broadcast. These limitations leave communities, particularly in remote and vulnerable areas, without reliable and timely access to critical climate and disaster risk information.
CTCN Support
Through this technical assistance, the CTCN will provide Lesotho with technical expertise and capacity building to strengthen and expand its Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) in alignment with the global Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative. Support will include institutional strengthening, specialized training for technical personnel, upgrading of monitoring and dissemination infrastructure, and the development of guidance materials and innovative solutions tailored to the country’s needs. This TA will also foster inter-sectoral collaboration, bringing together government institutions, local authorities, communities, and international partners to enhance risk knowledge, ensure cross-pillar integration of early warning services, and explore opportunities to leverage additional resources for sustained implementation.
Expected Outcome
This technical assistance is expected to significantly enhance Lesotho’s capacity to provide timely, accurate, and accessible early warnings for climate-related hazards, reducing loss of life and damage to livelihoods and assets. By modernising its early warning infrastructure and strengthening institutional and community preparedness, Lesotho will move closer to achieving universal early warning coverage in line with the EW4All targets. In the longer term, this will improve resilience across key sectors, empower vulnerable communities with actionable climate information, and support national adaptation planning and implementation efforts, thereby safeguarding development gains against the escalating risks of climate change.
