GMES and AFRICA participates in the AMCOMET Africa Hydromet Forum 2017

This inaugural African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) – Africa Hydromet Forum was held in Addis Ababa to provide strategic insight towards Africa’s climate and disaster resilience through improvement of hydrological, meteorological and early-warning services. 

Co-hosted by the African Union Commission and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Forum AMCONET brought together representatives from governments, public and private sectors, regional entities, development agencies and civil society, to build consensus and momentum to modernize weather, water, and climate information services as a prerequisite of a larger sustainable development strategy for Africa.

GMES and AFRICA Programme was presented by the Coordinator, Dr Tidiane Ouattara as one of the flagship Programme of the African Space Policy and Strategy adopted by the AU in January 2016. 

He provided participants with information on the contribution of observational data towards the development of various hydro-meteorological services offered to end-users at the Earth Observation Panel session. 

The presentation also highlighted opportunities available for Earth Observation applications in Hydrometeorology for Africa and the valuable contribution Copernicus data can play in the operations of African NMHs. 

GMES and AFRICA, in its plan of action for delivery of services in the fields of Water and Natural resources, Marine and Coastal Areas resources will utilize freely available Copernicus data. He also illustrated to what extent GMES and AFRICA, is an innovative EO's Programme, compared to its predecessors (PUMA, AMESD and MESA).

To download the G&A Presentation click here.

Other related information

• The AU African Space Policy 2016
• The AU African Space Strategy 2016
• The AU Agenda 2063 (2015), EN | FR
• The AU Agenda 2063 First ten-year Implementation Plan 2014-2023 EN |FR
• The AHF detailed Program, 
• Press Release: African Leaders Unite to Modernize Hydromet Services, 
• Op-Ed: Understanding Weather and Climate Boosts Economies and Saves Lives, 
• A brief about how Hydromet services touch every sector of society
• AMCOMET Activities and Achievements (since AMCOMET-3 2015)
• AU press release

BM/TO/DK