A two-week Training Workshop on Severe Weather and Impact-Based Forecasting and Warning Services (IBFWS) was conducted from October 23 to November 3, 2023 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The workshop, a collaborative effort between the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Ministry of Water Resources & Meteorology (MOWRAM) of Cambodia, and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), drew together operational forecasters and stakeholders from diverse Cambodian agencies. 

The focus of the workshop was the implementation of Impact-Based Forecasting and Warning Services (IBFWS) and utilizing the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). Participants delved into harnessing this knowledge to enable effective anticipatory actions in the context of disaster risk management.

During the first week, operational forecasters from MOWRAM and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) developed their technical knowledge to improve short- and medium-range forecasting of severe and high impact weather.

The second week witnessed the active participation of over 30 representatives from key Cambodian stakeholders. Among them were the National Committee for Disaster Management, the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Information, and the Cambodian Red Cross.

Throughout the workshop, valuable insights were exchanged among participants and trainers from international organizations, including the United Kingdom’s Met Office, The World Bank, Japan Meteorological Agency, China Meteorological Administration, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), and the Regional Forecast Support Center (RFSC) Hanoi.

The workshop fostered an exchange of knowledge and experiences among relevant organizations, aiming to promote effective collaboration to strengthen disaster preparedness in the face of severe weather events in Cambodia.ADPC is supporting the implementation of activities in Cambodia and Lao PDR under the framework of the CREWS initiative. The workshop was conducted as part of WMO’s Severe Weather Forecasting Programme (SWFP) and the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative.