Maldives strengthens disaster preparedness through new partnership

The Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maldivian Red Crescent to strengthen community disaster preparedness, improve risk awareness and support people-centred early warning systems across the Maldives.

The agreement will facilitate designated activities under the TRACT project, with an emphasis on helping communities understand disaster risks and prepare to respond to warnings.

TRACT—short for “Toward Risk-Aware and Climate-resilienT communities”- aims to improve access to reliable climate information and establish a nationwide, impact-based multi-hazard early warning system.

The project is intended to reduce communities’ vulnerability to climate change by ensuring that warnings address the potential consequences of hazardous events and reach those at risk.

The project is funded by the Green Climate Fund, with the United Nations Environment Programme serving as its accredited entity and the environment ministry acting as the national executing entity.

The partnership builds on the Maldivian Red Crescent’s existing role in the country’s Early Warnings for All initiative, under which it leads the preparedness and response pillar.

Its work connects early warning information with community-level action, helping people understand and respond to emerging threats.maldives.

The agreement also comes amid wider efforts to strengthen disaster resilience.

In October, the Maldives participated in a high-level meeting to launch the South Asia Disaster Risk Reduction Programme, which covers seven South Asian countries.

Funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the European Space Agency, the programme will use satellite-based Earth observation and meteorological services to support risk-informed planning, early warning systems and resilient infrastructure.

Separately, the National Disaster Management Authority launched the Damage Assessment and Loss Analysis (DALA) Portal on January 26, 2026, with support from the United Nations Development Programme.

The digital platform replaces fragmented manual reporting with an integrated system for recording disaster incidents, calculating damage and losses, and tracking assessments.

The portal is intended to improve coordination and provide more timely information for response and recovery, complementing efforts to strengthen preparedness before disasters occur