A steering group member of the WWRP PEOPLE Project and Chairperson of Department of Meteorology at University of Dhaka, Dr. Fatima Akter, participated as a panelist in the session titled “Road Map Implementation: Opportunities, Challenges and Collective Responsibility” during the National Road Map Dissemination Workshop for Early Warnings for All. Alongside her, the panel included Mr. Ramesh Tripathi, Project Manager at WMO; Mr. Nathalean Smith, Team Leader of the Climate Team at FCDO; Mr. Maribeth Black, Deputy Head of Programme (DHoP) at WFP; and Mr. Alberto Bocanegra, Head of Delegation at IFRC. The session was moderated by Mr. Ahmadul Haque, Additional Secretary and National Focal Point for EW4All.
The panel brought together leaders from government, development partners, humanitarian agencies, and academia to explore how Bangladesh can accelerate the Road Map’s implementation. Discussions emphasized the importance of coordinated action, sustained investment, and cross sector collaboration to deliver early warnings that are timely, actionable, and trusted by communities.
In the discussion, Dr. Fatima Akter highlighted academia’s role in strengthening technical capacity for EW4All, emphasizing research, training, and skill development. She also emphasized the importance of meteorological research gaps that must be addressed to enhance the accuracy and reliability of early warnings in Bangladesh. Moreover, Dr. Fatima mentioned that WWRP PEOPLE Project also aims to systematically identify and analyze the persistent gaps along the warning-to-action pathway, from scientific generation to community response, and develop pathways for strengthening implementation, integration, and people-centered impact-based early warning systems.