Disaster warning systems reach more countries, with gaps on small islands
A UN assessment says 136 countries report some capacity to warn people about multiple hazards.
Seventeen more countries report having some capability to warn people about multiple hazards than did in March 2025. That brings the total to 136 countries, or about 70%, according to a November assessment by the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The agencies said small island developing states reported the lowest coverage. Least developed countries made the largest gains from their starting point but still had the least comprehensive systems in the assessment. A national system can be in place while some communities remain beyond its reach.
One way to distribute alerts is cell broadcast, which sends messages to phones in a defined area. The report says 38 countries had operational systems by June 2026 and another 17 were close to completing them. The agencies track these capabilities as part of the UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative.