WHAT IS AMCOMET?
H.E. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, AUC Commissioner and Dr. Elena Manaenkova, WMO Assistant Secretary-General
In response to major challenges related to the delivery of weather and climate services in Africa, the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) was initiated as a permanent forum where African ministers convene every two years to discuss policy matters related to the development of meteorology and its applications and its contribution to the socio-economic development in Africa.
The First Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa, took place in April 2010, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Conference established AMCOMET as a high-level policy mechanism and the intergovernmental authority for the development of meteorology and its applications in Africa, through the adoption of the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration.
While meteorology is known first and foremost for its contribution to safe and regular air and sea transport, it does have several other essential functions: it helps farmers to produce more and better, helps to combat diseases such as malaria and meningitis, and saves many human lives by disseminating early warnings of floods and droughts. The delivery of tailor-made weather, climate and water services is increasingly needed to ensure food security, improved water management, disaster risk reduction and better health.
This is the rationale for the establishment of AMCOMET as the authority that fosters political will to strengthen National Meteorological Services to enable them to fully perform their roles as a fundamental component of the national development infrastructure and a major contributor to economic and social development.
AMCOMET’s key objectives are to promote political cooperation and streamline policies at a pan-African level and advocate for sound decision-making based on robust science. AMCOMET will consolidate and build on previous achievements to further promote the effective use of weather and climate products and services that meet end-user requirements to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The vision of AMCOMET is to create a framework to promote cooperation, security, socio-economic development and poverty eradication on a pan-African level through sound governance of the science of meteorology and its related applications.
The mission of AMCOMET is to provide political leadership, policy direction and advocacy in the provision of weather, water and climate information and services that meet sector specific needs; i.e. agriculture, health, and disaster risk reduction to name a few.
The AMCOMET Brochure provides an overview of the conference; it's mandate, rationale and activities. Click here to view the brochure.