PRESS RELEASE

WMO-SACEP Join Hands for Mutual Co-operation

The MOU on 22nd November 2005 was signed by the Secretary General, Mr Michel Jarraud on behalf of WMO & Director General, Dr. Arvind Boaz on behalf of SACEP. The MOU was an out come of the a proposal made at the 9th Meeting of the Governing Council of South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) held on 26th August 2005, SACEP and the 3rd Intergovernmental Ministerial Meeting of the South Asian Seas Programme. WMO provides the framework for international cooperation at a global scale for the development of meteorology and operational hydrology.
South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme is an Inter-governmental Organization established in 1982 by eight countries of South Asia to promote and support protection, management and conservation of environment in the region. SACEP has promoted programmes in the field of environmental law, capacity building, education, and been involved in developing the State of environment reporting for each country and the South Asian Region. It has been engaged in the South Asian Seas programme and Transboundary air pollution to develop Action Plans with the South Asian government. Welcoming the distinguish gathering Dr.A.A.Boaz, Director General, SACEP said that the WMO has played a leading role in international efforts to monitor and protect the environment through its programmes through its collaborative efforts with the UN agencies such as the National Meteorological organisation Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and strengthens the implementation of the UN framework on climate change etc and thus promote for the sustainable development and the wellbeing of the nations. Thus this occasion was important in terms for SACEP as a regional centre of excellence since it joins with WMO to pursue higher goals of information sharing and regional capacity building.
The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organisation with a membership of 187 Member States and Territories. Established in 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations in 1951 for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. Speaking at the occasion Mr. Michel Jarraud Secretary General, on behalf of WMO pointed out that weather prediction was difficult especially in terms of the tropical storm surges. But he emphasised on the need of having a proper monitoring and evaluation system for this reason so that the scientists will be better able to predict the climatic conditions, hence such regional cooperation was important.
Under WMO leadership and within the framework of WMO programmes, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services contribute substantially to the protection of life and property against natural disasters, to safeguarding the environment and to enhancing the economic and social well-being of all sectors of society in areas such as food security, water resources and transport.
The provisions of the Convention of World Meteorological Organization, by which WMO was created in order to facilitate cooperation in the establishment of networks of stations for making meteorological including climatological, hydrological and other related geophysical observations; to promote the rapid exchange of meteorological information, the standardization of meteorological observation and the uniform publication of observations and statistics; to further the application of meteorology to water problems, agriculture, drought monitoring, natural disaster reduction and mitigation, ozone and pollution monitoring, monitoring of climate change, weather- and climate-sensitive socio-economic activities, to promote operational hydrology and encourage research and training in relevant fields.
The occasion was graced by higher official of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Meteorology and Department of Irrigation.