Liberia, ECOWAS Hold 13th NMHS Meeting

The government of Liberia through the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) yesterday embarked on a three-day National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) for ECOWAS member countries in the region.The gathering which brought together representatives from all member states in the region at the Boulevard Palace Hotel in Monrovia is the 13th meeting of the NMHSs for ECOWAS member countries aimed “to discuss strengthening and improving quality of climate and hydrological services delivery to end-users in the region.”
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the MOT Deputy Minister for Administration and Insurance, Sirleaf R. Tyler said that Meteorology is extremely important in national security of the country (Liberia), the region (Africa) and the world at large.
Minister Sirleaf said that Meteorology is extremely paramount for airline shipping, domestic transportation, and even in the daily life of the world citizenry in terms of how they dress and go out, adding that as the government has launched its developmental agenda which highlights Agriculture as one of the main pillar of economic vibrant, he said Meteorology is important in terms of getting the country Agriculture level to self-sustainability and exportation.
He indicated that the government lack infrastructure capacity in Meteorology and said, for the last two years or more, the government has been working hard in terms of installation, rain station and other Meteorology materials, stressing “the human capacity in Liberia has been degraded due to the war, Ebola and other disaster that hits us.”
“In Liberia, we have a lot of challenges and we have a lot of Work to do for meteorology and our people. One of these paramount things that we use to do is the autonomy of the Liberia Meteorology services. Our government is committed to that and even the strategic plans launched few months ago, highlighted that and we are working pretty assiduously to achieved that in it’s full,” MOT Deputy Minister added.
Minister Sirleaf further revealed that the challenges the country face is an African challenge, a world challenge, noting “that is why we are all in this room to help each other achieve this challenges together. As my colleague said, “No country should be left behind and no citizen should be left behind and every earn-user that needs Meteorology, the information should be given to them for disaster and other purposes.”
He then pledged the government’s commitment to the implementation of agenda 2063, stating, “We are also committed to all the international declaration that was signed and committed to achieving the World Meteorology Organization (WMO) standard.”
Earlier, the Special Representative of ECOWAS in Liberia, Babatunde Olanrewaju Ajisomo stated that the state of the national services in charge of climatology and hydrology in West Africa is far from the capacity required to produce and provide tailored services to support achieving the Sustainable Development goals.
The ECOWAS Ambassador indicated that the vulnerability of economic sectors, populations and infrastructures to the risks of the hydro-meteorological compromises in many cases, alluding that the development of their countries leads them to work in order to have reliable forecasts for their policies, strategies, programs and projects.
He further stated, “To achieve this, it should be supported by a strengthened framework for collaboration and partnership between ECOWAS as a Regional Economic Community and the
AGRHYMET Regional Centre (CRA) as a future Regional Climate Centre (RCC).”
Also in remarks, African Union Commission head of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, Olushola Olayide – stressed the needs for meteorological sector to work together with other sectors in order for Member States to be able to tackle problems in holistic manner in line with the pan African Vision of an integrated Africa.
Olayide added that the meteorological sector is critical for agriculture, livestock, health, water, infrastructure, etc., adding that it is high time the importance of the meteorological sector becomes a reality in all socio-economic development sectors.
She then urged the national meteorological and hydrological services to continue playing their roles in order for individuals, communities, Member States, Regional Economic Communities, and the entire continent at the African Union level to achieve the pan African Vision as the AU Commission.