ACMAD Holds 22nd Ordinary Session of the Governing Board Meeting ….. As NiMet hosts ClimSA meeting to expose products and programs on climate change…
Oru Leonard
The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), started a it’s 22nd Ordinary Session of the Governing Board which is preceded by the Second Steering Committee meeting of ACMAD-ClimSA Project yesterday.
Stakeholders gathered to appraise the climate situation in Africa and taking advantage of the synergy among participating countries to avert disaster and minimize loss of lives and property.
Addressing Journalists at the event in Abuja, the Director, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Office for Africa, Amos Makarau, urged stakeholders to continue focusing on actions on how to bridge the gap between early warnings and early actions? That is very, very critical. How can we minimize the loss of lives?
He said, “Sometimes we have governments taking a long time to declare a state of emergency but we need to bridge that gap. Once an early warning advisory has been issued, we actually expect the other agencies responsible for alerting the Head of States to announce to them that we have a disaster and to declare a state of emergency to allow humanitarian agencies to come.They cannot come in until the Head of State has declared a state of emergency.
“The meeting there is actually to make sure that we bridge the gap between early warning and early action, that is really what we are looking at. Please be assured that we are there to support you.”
He disclosed that the WMO is planning a high level conference in Mozambique in July-August of 2022 to address the issue of climate disasters affecting Africa.
Speaking, the Director General, ACMAD, Dr. André Kamga Foamouhoue, said that the only way to move from warning to action is for ACMAD to work together with the countries to make sure that the relationship between national meteorological services and the disaster management agencies is made operational and. He commended Nigeria for being at the forefront of working towards reaching that goal.
He said ACMAD was established to deliver and help apply continental level advisories, while the ClimSA project seeks to strengthen the climate service value chain, provide technical, financial assistance as well as capacity building to address the climate challenge at the base of ACMAD creation.
Also speaking, of the Chairperson Governing Board of ACMAD, Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu said the gathering is to review the first year report of the ClimSA project and the second year work plan and budget of the ACMAD-ClimSA project.
He noted that NiMet in a bid to bridge the early warning and early action gap, has been providing products and services early and follow up with updates, adding also that access to the $100 billion climate fund is very low and so NiMet is hosting the ClimSA meeting to expose other countries to some of its products and programs on climate change adaptation and mitigation, thereby raising their capacity in order to access the funds.
