Report by the President of RA I Dr. Lamine BAH Cg – XVI / Doc. 2.4 Geneva, 2011

REPORT BY THE PRESIDENT OF RA I First Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa: –Expert Segment –Ministerial Segment Report of the Fifteenth Session of RA I: –Introduction –Major outcomes of XV-RA I session: Priorities for RA I

First Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa Expert Segment (12 – 14 April 2010) Topics: - Meeting development needs - Benefits of national meteorological, hydrological and climate services - Disaster risk reduction - Filling information gaps - Capacity building - User perspectives - Enhancing partnerships Conference statement Draft Ministerial Declaration

First Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa Ministerial Segment (15 – 16 April 2010): - Noted the Conference statement - Adoption of Ministerial Declaration - Establishment of high-level mechanism: African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) ) Bureau : Kenya(Chair), Mali(First Vice-Chair), Zimbabwe(Second Vice-Chair), Congo(Third Vice-Chair), Morocco(Rapporteur) - Creation of a Task force to define the institutional framework and internal arrangements of AMCOMET Members : Five Bureau members and Algeria,(North Africa), Cameroon(Central Africa), Ghana(West Africa),Uganda(East Africa) and a representative of Southern Africa(to be designated)

Report of the Fifteenth Session of RA I INTRODUCTION - RA I held its fifteenth session in Marrakech, Morocco from 1 to 8 November The session was attended by 100 participants from 38 Members of RA I, 10 observers from 4 Members from outside the region, 9 observers from regional and international organizations

Report of the Fifteenth Session of RA I MAJOR OUTCOMES OF THE RA I SESSION a.Adoption of the Strategic Plan for the enhancement of NMHSs in RA I ( ) b.Establishment of RA I Subsidiary bodies: 1) Management Group 2) Working Group on Observations and Infrastructure 3) Working Group on Climate Matters and Applications 4) Working Group on Improved Weather Forecasting and Natural Disaster Mitigation 5) Working Group on Hydrology 6) Working Group on Education and Training

XV-RA I Session c.First Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa: The Association noted the Ministers decisions and agreed that there was need to urgently initiate the process of implementation of the related decisions. d.GFCS: The Association noted the progress of the High-Level Taskforce on the GFCS and in particular the draft reports availability for review by governments and experts. The Association noted that NMHSs have always been, and should continue to be the national authoritative voices on, and source of weather and climate information and services in many developing and least developed countries, hence the NMHSs should play a focal and central role in the implementation of the GFCS.

XV-RA I Session e.RCCs: Based on the recommendations of the TT-RCCs and the available expressions of interest from regional institutions, the Association decided that ACMAD and ICPAC be developed as multi-functional RCCs and approved the establishment of African-RCC and IGAD-RCC at ACMAD and ICPAC respectively f.QMS: The Association requested the SG/WMO in close coordination with the SG/ICAO, to address a letter to the relevant Ministers in charge of aviation and meteorology in the Region, to remind them of the seriousness of the issue of QMS implementation for the future development of air traffic as a key enabler of sustainable development

XV-RA I Session g.REGIONAL OFFICE: In order to improve governance and coordination of regional programmes, as well as to make them more effective, the Association urged the SG/WMO to explore relocating the Regional office to the region h.ELECTION: - The Association elected Dr Lamine BAH (Guinea) as president and Dr Amos MAKARAU (Zimbabwe) - The Association supports the candidature of M. Abdalah MOKSSIT (Morocco) for either first, second or third vice- president of the WMO (Cg-XVI), May 2011.

XV-RA I Session

PRIORITIES FOR RA I a.Strengthen the Capacity of the WMO Field Offices to serve Members more effectively; b. Implement the decisions contained in the Ministerial Declaration; c. Prepare the RA I Operating Plan; d. Enhance the regional integration in meteorological and hydrological development;

PRIORITIES FOR RA I e.Consider the decisions of XV-RA I Session on GFCS and RCCs; f.Establish the QMS for all NMHSs in Africa for services to aviation; and g. Meet the November 2013 deadline for aeronautical meteorological personnel to be able to demonstrate compliance with the competency requirements.

Cg – XVI / Doc. 2.4 Geneva, 2011 Cg – XVI / Doc. 2.4 Geneva, THANK YOU