Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for actively participating during the Fourth Session of AMCOMET which took place in Cairo, the Arab Republic of Egypt from 18 – 21 February 2019.  The quality of the debates and the depth of your deliberations ensured the success of the Session, of which the Cairo Ministerial Declaration is the main outcome. It will guide our work during the intersessional period.

Our continent is very exposed to the extreme weather events which couple with rapid, uncontrolled urbanization, to expose the vulnerability of our megalopolis that are struggling to cope with natural disasters whose frequency and intensity are exacerbated by climate change.

Now more than ever, there is an increased demand to provide more accurate and timely weather, water and climate services to safeguard lives and livelihoods. By dint of scientific and technical progress, since 2012 it has been possible to predict extreme events like hurricane Sandy with more than one week of advance warning.  Provision of accurate and timely services (Forecasts) by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) enables informed, scientifically sound decision-making for planning and preparedness to reduce disaster impacts, save lives and drive growth and socio-economic development.

One of the key achievements of AMCOMET was the creation in 2015 of the ECCAS Climate Application and Prediction Center whose activities started in October 2018. This Center fills a gap existing in this sub-region. We strongly encourage the sub-regional authorities to accelerate the process of designating the Center’s staff, in order to support must effectively the NMHSs of this sub-region.

Faced with inadequate technological and scientific provision in our NMHSs, AMCOMET fosters the political will to strengthen National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to enable them to fully perform their mandates. AMCOMET has a fundamental role to play in the joint implementation of the goals and objectives of integrated development of meteorological and climatological services to reduce disaster impacts and spur socio-economic growth and development. 

I urge the states to ensure that targeted capacity building of NMHSs, is done first through a sustained public investment-driven approach. Indeed it is up to us to build the resilience of our countries, with the support of our development, financial and technical partner.

The action plan of the Integrated African Strategy for Meteorology and the Cairo Ministerial Declaration outline what needs to be done during this intersessional period. In line with these guidelines, the bureau will work, among others, on the establishment of national frameworks for climate services and national strategic plans that will help States to better define their priorities and establish a road map in line with their real needs.

We will continue with the policy of capacity building of our NMHSs and political support put in place by AMCOMET since its inception.

Lieutenant General Younis Al-Masry, AMCOMET Bureau Chair and Minister of Civil Aviation, Arab Republic of Egypt.