There are many actors in the weather and climate services field in Africa. International organizations, continental institutions, sub-regional and national entities are all implementing various programmes and projects with a view to improving the development, provision and uptake of weather and climate services. To emphasise the need for regional alliance around this important thematic area, the WMO, UNDP, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, AMCOMET, FAO and the Africa Climate Policy Centre have proposed a workshop to build synergies among key stakeholders in the continent.
Impressions from Workshop
Over 70 participants representing 34 organizations and 22 countries across Africa and the world attended the Regional Stakeholder Coordination Workshop in Saly, Senegal from 1 to 2 May 2017 to discuss the critical need for a coordinated effort in scaling-up weather-, water- and climate service delivery in the region of Africa. The two main objectives for the workshop, namely
- convene key regional stakeholders engaged in climate services to develop a common understanding of their initiatives, mutual roles and impact; and
- define a Common Roadmap outlining how to deliver coordinated climate services through joining forces
were jointly addressed by productive discussions. SASSCAL contributed to the discussion by presenting the SASSCAL WeatherNet as a regional effort and its commitment to further contribute to the regional effort of the WMO, SADC CSC, the national meteorological services and research institutions in providing science-based weather and climate services for the SADC region.
The event was convened by the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) and jointly organised by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA/African Climate Policy Centre) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), expressing a common desire to work together to compile a common plan of action for improving climate service delivery.
More information can be found on: http://gfcs-climate.org/saly-coordination-workshop
By Jörg Helmschrot, with contribution from Arame Tall & Fatema Rajabali
