Training South Sudan’s journalists to carry climate information to the public

The gap Husika is meant to close

Across the Greater Horn of Africa, climate forecasting and early warning have made significant progress, yet gaps remain between producing climate information and using it. Technical language can be hard to interpret, information may not reach people through accessible channels or in appropriate languages, and even when a warning is received, what it means and what action it calls for may not be clear.

Husika connects the institutions that produce authoritative climate and early warning information with intermediaries such as the media and, ultimately, with the communities who need it. It does not produce forecasts or issue warnings itself: forecasts remain the mandate of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, and warnings are issued by each country’s mandated agencies. Husika provides the infrastructure to make that information easier to access, package and disseminate — through the app, SMS, in-app notifications and social media, with audio and local-language translation to help with literacy, language and accessibility.

The media as part of the information chain

For many communities, climate information is first encountered on radio, television, online news or social media, so the media plays a critical role in translating technical information into messages people can understand while preserving the accuracy of the science. ICPAC is therefore pairing the rollout of Husika with capacity building for journalists across IGAD Member States, and South Sudan is the first to take part.

As part of the training, run with the World Food Programme, access to Husika was granted to the South Sudan Meteorological Service, strengthening its ability and confidence to use the platform within the national climate information chain. Journalists examined the challenges they face in reporting weather and climate information — accessing authoritative sources, interpreting technical terms and probabilities, and turning science into clear public messages — and where communication breaks down along the chain from forecast to warning, media, community, understanding and action.

Participants worked on the difference between a forecast and a warning, and on communicating probabilities, impacts and actions without changing the science. An 80% probability of above-normal rainfall, for instance, should not become a report that flooding will definitely occur.

Putting Husika into practice

Using the October–December 2026 forecast issued by the South Sudan Meteorological Service, journalists worked with climate information as they would in a newsroom, turning it into radio bulletins, television stories, social media messages and print. The format changed for each audience and channel; the science did not.

The training ended with a simulation that followed information through the entire chain. The test was not whether a message had been sent, but what the community had actually understood: whether the information was clear, whether people understood the risk and knew what action to take, and whether their feedback could travel back through the system.

That feedback loop is what makes early warning a two-way exchange rather than a one-way broadcast. Knowing that a message was unclear, arrived too late, or was not accessible in the right language or format helps institutions and the media improve what they send next.

Strengthening climate services across the region

The same training will be held for journalists in Sudan in October 2026, with the Sudan Meteorological Authority, Save the Children and the Sudan Ministry of Environment. Husika has also reached the cross-border areas of Karamoja (IGAD Cluster 1), where local media were included in collaboration with GIZ, which also supported the upgrade of the application.

Expanding the journalist training across IGAD Member States is meant to strengthen the connections between climate information producers, national institutions, the media and communities, working with Husika partners including GIZ, Save the Children, WFP, UNDP, GFFO and Bunifu Technologies.