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The UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) delegation has concluded its participation at the 18th World Meteorological Congress in Geneva. The delegation was headed by NCM Executive Director, Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous.
Highlights of the Congress included the election of German Professor Dr. Gerhard Adrian as the new President of the World Meteorological Organisation, WMO, and the reappointment of Finnish Petteri Taalas as Secretary-General of the WMO to acclaim from all the organisation’s 193 member countries. Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, President of Regional Association II (RA II) ASIA of the WMO since 2017, along with five members from the Asia region were elected to the WMO’s board of directors.
The event also saw the approval of a new collaborative framework entitled ‘Ocean Dialogue’ – which also coincided with the United Nations’ World Oceans Day on 8 June 2019 – designed to galvanise the international community’s efforts to ensure the sustainable management of oceans and provide a better tomorrow for present and future generations by boosting inter-agency coordination and cooperation and contributing to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
In his capacities of Executive Director of NCM and the President of Regional Association II (RA II) ASIA of the WMO, Dr Al Mandoos led the RA II Asia team of 35 member countries and chaired a consultation meeting of Permanent Representatives and Members of the General Secretariat for the election of the WMO Executive Council Members for Asia. Dr. Al Mandous also submitted his Presidential Report for Asia at the meeting, which highlighted the successful and ongoing rollout of a wide range of innovative meteorological programmes and projects in the Asian region.
Commenting on the UAE delegation’s work at the Congress, Dr. Al Mandous said, “We are proud to play an active role representing the UAE within the major forums for global cooperation on the science and understanding of meteorology. By driving international efforts to advance meteorological science and weather readiness through international collaboration, the NCM is working to fulfill the UAE Innovation Strategy’s quest to build a leading global knowledge economy in accordance with the Abu Dhabi 2030 Vision.”
The UAE delegation also participated in the GCC Standing Committee for Meteorology and Climate meeting to discuss how to maintain and develop essential weather forecasting infrastructure in the region, with a particular emphasis on the need for enhanced satellite coverage of the Arabian Peninsula. In addition, a meeting took place between representatives from the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Gulf Arab States and the China Meteorological Administration to finalise details of an MOU on potential regional applications of China’s FY weather satellites.
Since joining WMO in 1986, the UAE has dynamically aligned its strategy with all resolutions and recommendations adopted by the WMO and drive collective global efforts to enhance scientific analysis of atmospheric phenomena and provision of climate services.
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