Egypt acquires a seat in WMO executive council

Egypt acquired a seat in the Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), during the 69th session of the agency that concluded Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, MENA reported.

Chairperson of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority, Dr. Ahmed Abdel-Al, acquired the seat as Egypt representative to the United Nations’ s agency, dedicated to meteorology (weather), climatology (climate) and operational hydrology (water).

WMO is mandated to facilitate international cooperation and coordination on the state and behavior of Earth’s atmosphere. It has a membership of 191 member states, as of February 2014.

WMO’s 69th session focused on strengthening weather and climate services to protect lives, property and economy from the increasingly extreme and unusual weather.
Egypt, as an African state, was one of the first signatories to the convention of WMO; and it has joined the executive council several times since the establishment of the agency in 1947. It is considered an active member of the organization.

The Arab League has recently appointed Abdel-Al as chairperson for the Permanent Arab Meteorological Committee, in recognition for Egypt’s vital role in the field of meteorological studies on the global and African levels.