Africa Ministerial Conference on Meteorology
AMCOMET aims to shape policies, forge partnerships and lay the groundwork for the provision of weather, climate and water services as catalysts for socioeconomic development.
The Sixth Session of the Africa Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) met virtually from 15–16 May to elect new leadership for the next two years. The Conference urged AMCOMET Member States to expedite implementation of previous recommendations, decisions and declarations with the support of Africa Union Commission, (AUC), WMO and other partners and endorsed the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and resource mobilization plans in the Integrated Strategy on Meteorology adopted by the African Heads of States.
The 6th AMCOMET session aimed to shape policies, forge partnerships and lay the groundwork for the provision of weather, climate and water services that could be used as catalysts for socioeconomic development. An adoption of innovation and technological advancements is essential to modernize meteorological and hydrological services in Africa.
The Conference emphasized the crucial role of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) as the national authoritative voices for the issuance of early warning information and alerts. The accurate and timely information that NMHSs provide to governments and users ensure safety and contribute to the resilience of communities and the socioeconomic development of countries. It requested better coordination between the Africa Multi-hazard Early Warnings and Action System (AMHEWAS) Situation Rooms and NMHSs on the sending early warnings and advisories, in recognition of the mandates and authority of NMHSs.
The Conference commended the production of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of meteorological services, and the generation of resource mobilization plans to guide the work of AMCOMET. It requested that its Members, AUC and WMO facilitate their launch and pursue recourse mobilization at events such as the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Conference further underscored the urgent need for Members and partners to increase their investments in human resources, hydrometeorological infrastructure, data collection and service provision. These investments are crucial to improve the functional capacities of the NMHSs to support decision-making in weather-sensitive socioeconomic sectors such as agriculture, water, health, infrastructure and energy.