Interagency Standard Operating Procedures for Early Action to El Niño/La Niña Episodes

These Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are intended to help catalyse and guide earlier humanitarian and development action to future ENSO-related extreme weather events (including drought, flooding, cyclones and extreme heat/cold and related events such as disease outbreaks).

The SOPs outline what actions need to be taken, by whom and by when, once there are warning signs of a possible or impending ENSO event, to mitigate or prevent its impacts.

They outline development and humanitarian actions for the international system.

While aimed in the first instance at responding to El Niño/La Niña forecasts, these SOPs may in future be reviewed/adapted as needed to apply to non-ENSO-related slow-onset extreme weather events for which early warning is available.