Meeting of the Heads of Meteorological Services held in Arusha
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 27 June 2017:
A 3-day meeting of the Heads of Meteorological Service to spearhead the development of the Meteorological Sector in the region concluded at the EAC headquarters in Arusha,Tanzania on 21st July 2017.
Addressing participants at the opening session, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure Eng. Steven D.M Mlote, informed the meeting that the provision of accurate and timely weather and climate information provides useful inputs into sectors such as agriculture; livestock development and food security; road, air and maritime transport; building and construction industry; health and public safety; disaster management and water resources management among others.
He further informed the meeting that the ratification of the EAC Protocol on the Cooperation in Meteorological Services was one of the key priorities. The protocol, once fully implemented, will rekindle the glory of the East African Meteorological Services. He called upon Partner States to fast track the ratification process.
Eng. Mlote requested the Heads of the Meteorological Services to explore new avenues in the unexplored territories to make the sector more visible. Some of the new opportunities worthy exploring includes: Weather Services for the Road Transport to reduce road fatalities associated with bad weather; Weather Services to the Health Sector; Weather Services for the New Standard Railways; Weather Services to support the new digital television broadcasting services; and Development of an EAC weather forecasting platform.
In his remarks the Chairman Dr. Festis Luboyera, Executive Director of Uganda National Meteorological Authority informed generally the seasonal March to May season was well forecasted and in line with the forecast made by the National Meteorological Services. He encouraged partner states to work with development partners to stabilize food security.
Director of Infrastructure (DI) at the EAC Secretariat, Dr Kamugisha Kazaura promised that the EAC Secretariat will continue to support the Meteorological Services and explore avenues through which the EAC can facilitate in supporting acquiring capital equipment to improve service delivery.
Among the key output of the meeting was the formation of a taskforce to assess the optimum number of weather stations and location of Radar Stations to avoid duplication of efforts and save on costs of procurement of meteorological instruments and equipment.
The meeting was attended by Heads of the Meteorological Services, Representative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Weather Information Service Africa (WISER), IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) as well as USAID PREPARED.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified