AMCOMET seeks inclusion in AU’s specialized Committee

THE African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) has reiterated the need to include Meteorology (Weather and Climate) in the African Union (AU)

The Director of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) Secretariat in Geneva, Dr Joseph Romanus Mukabana, who is also the Director of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Office for Africa and Least Developed Countries, (AFLCD), expressed this in Geneva, Switzerland, while highlighting the importance of the Weather and Climate information and Services provided by the WMO National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the amelioration of impacts of natural disasters caused by Weather and Climate extremes to the vulnerable communities in Africa.

According to Dr Mukabana, the inclusion of Meteorology (Weather and Climate), in the established of the African Union, Weather and Climate issues will modality of the Union (AU)”, he be made a cardinal part of the maintained.

It will be recalled that in April 2010, the First Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa, through the Nairobi Declaration, established the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) as a high-level policy mechanism for the development of meteorology and its applications in Africa. AMCOMET is the inter-governmental authority on Meteorology in Africa.

The vision of AMCOMET is to have a framework for cooperation in the areas of security, socio-economic development and poverty eradication on a pan- African level through sound governance and the application of the science of meteorology and its related applications on the continent.accountability, synergies, linkages and complementarities for overarching targets for Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation (3AGT) agenda.

The African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government had in January 2009 and July 2011 respectively, adopted the configuration of the Specialized Technical Committees (STCs) and the modalities of their operationalization as Organs of the Union. The Specialized Technical Committees are composed of Ministers or senior officials responsible for sectors to provide support in their respective areas of competence.