WISER - South Asia Hydromet Forum (SAHF)

WISER for Asia-Pacific

Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER)

WISER (Weather and Climate Information Services) is a UK government-funded initiative delivering transformational change in the quality, accessibility and use of weather and climate information services. In April 2023, the programme expanded to launch WISER Asia-Pacific, a nine-year (2023–2031) initiative under the FCDO’s Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme. It works across South Asia, Southeast Asia and Pacific Island nations to support sustainable development by improving weather and climate services – focusing on how forecasts can inform decision-making, preparedness and resilience to extreme weather and climate change.

The WISER programme aims to deliver transformation in the generation and use of co-produced weather and climate services to support decision making at local, national, and regional levels, building resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Objectives

The project should support transformational change in regional capability and capacity for an impact-based approach to early warning services for vulnerable communities and sectors across South Asia and within its Member Countries.

Building on progress and needs identified by the SAHF IBF working group (and with regional-national stakeholders), this will be achieved through:

Development of an enabling regional framework and mechanism to support regional capacity enhancement, under a regionally owned approach.
Regional-national piloting to develop, test and implement approaches for IBF to support improved resilience of vulnerable communities and sectors.
Identification of mechanisms to support wider rollout across South Asia; upscaling of piloting approaches and mechanisms to ensure both regional and national sustainability.
Supporting greater connectivity across other components and working groups, and wider institutional strengthening of SAHF.

Scope and Timeline

The Scope and Timeline projected are:

Activities starting from 1st August 2025
Project activities to close 31st March 2027
Project reporting complete by 30th April 2027
The funds must be spent within the duration of the Agreement

About WISER

WISER aims to support transformational change in five key ways to achieve results and impact. The proposal should demonstrate alignment with these five pillars. Below is some guidance to help complete this section:

1. Innovation

Utilise innovative approaches, partnerships, and technologies wherever possible. These should have the potential to demonstrate new ways of doing things, leading to wider and sustained change.

2. Evidence of Effectiveness

Share successful WISER approaches from one location widely. Ensure that lessons on their usefulness are credible and disseminated broadly.

3. Replicability

Encourage the replication of good ideas piloted by WISER by others, both within the same country and more widely.

4. At Scale

Implement interventions on a larger scale than before to have a significant impact on policy or planning. Expand benefits such as access to WCIS, technologies, and financing flows to create a fundamental shift in outcomes at a regional or national level. Examples include increased user engagement and response to early warning services or the number of iinstitutional partnerships involved in WCIS design or use.

4. Sustainability

Ensure that changes are likely to be sustained once WISER support ends. This could include the availability of longer-term financing or resources, institutional integration of new approaches into standard operating procedures, and strong political commitment to integrating WCIS into policies or strategic plans.

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