His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, Director of the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), President of the Regional Association II (Asia), and Permanent Representative of the UAE to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) today opened the 17thSession of RA II (ASIA) that draws the participation of 141 representatives from 31 WMO members and several other international organizations.
Running from 25 to 26 May, 2021, the session kicked off with the progress report on the achievements of RA II (ASIA) since the last session and His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous expressed his appreciation for the Secretariat for its unwavering support despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic.
Addressing the session, Professor Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General encouraged the participants to share their thoughts on how the regional reform process could be effectively implemented at the regional scale.
Professor Gerhard Adrian,President of WMO, also delivered a speech lauding the achievements made by the regional organization amid the unprecedented disruption caused by the pandemic to the organization’s activities across the globe.
During their previous discussions, RA II members agreed on a new format for its session, and to hold the session in two phases.
RA II Phase I, currently underway, proposes the establishment of Task Teams on the Regional Concept (TT-RC),a Task Team on Review of the Regional Partnership and Sub-regional Cooperation (TT-RP) and the terms of reference and membership. The members are set to agree on the Phase 2 of RA II during the current session.
The session also outlined three key flagship initiatives including the Report on State of Climate in Asia 2020, Public and Private Engagement (PPE), and Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF).
Furthermore, the Session will discuss the way forward towards the regional implementation of WMO strategy on enhanced services, State of Climate Report in Asia, observations and data exchange, research and innovation and RA II Operating Plan 2021–2024.
WMO’ssix Regional Associations for Asia, Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and South America meet once every four years, when it elects a President and a Vice-president.
The election will be held online tomorrow, 26 May from 11:00am to 11:40 am UAE local time.
His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous submitted his nomination for the candidacy of President of RA II for a second term from 2021-2025through the UAE Government.
