TANZANIA DEPUTY MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT APPLAUDS THE GREATER HORN OF AFRICA METEOROLOGISTS.

The Tanzanian Deputy Minister for Transport, Hon. Dr. Charles Tizeba, applauds the Greater Horn of Africa and Eastern Africa Meteorologists for the provision of Climate Early Warning for Early Action when officiating the opening of the Forty First Greater Horn of Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF-41) at Kunduchi Beach Hotel – Dar es salaam, Tanzania, on 24^th August 2015.

“We appreciate and value the Regional Climate Outlook Forum (RCOF’s) goals of improving technical capacity of providers and users of weather and climate information to enhance the inputs and use of climate monitoring and forecasting products”, said Dr.Tizeba. 

The Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) Director General Dr. Agnes Kijazi used the opportunity to express her gratitude for Tanzania to be entrusted to host this important forum. “on behalf of TMA I would like to thank IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Center (ICPAC) and Great Horn Of Africa (GHA) National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and other partners for organizing this Forty First Greater Horn Of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF 41) here at Kunduchi Beach Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, It is a great honor”. She said.

The Forum was an interactive event that brought together climate information users, experts from critical socio-economic sectors, governmental and non-governmental organisations, decision-makers, climate scientists, civil society stakeholders among others. The forum reviewed the implications of the key climate factors expected to influence the evolution of the regional climate during the September to December, 2015 rainfall season. The likely impacts of the current developing El Niño event over equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean that is predicted to persist during the rest of 2015 and into early 2016 is among the climate system expected to influence the September to December 2015 rain season.  Much of the Great Horn of African Countries are expected to experience enhanced rainfall. 

Users of climate information who participated in GHACOF 41 were drawn from various sectors including agriculture and food security, disaster risk management, water resources, health, media as well as non-governmental organisations and development partners. The participants provided sector specific assessment of the usefulness of the previous regional consensus climate outlook, the current regional climate outlook and formulated sector specific mitigation strategies based on the consensus regional climate outlook for the September to December 2015 rainfall season.

The forum was sponsored by the United Nation Development Program (UNDP), IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Center (ICPAC) and hosted by Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA).

                           

RELEASED BY MONICA MUTONI

COMMUNICATION OFFICER,

TANZANIA METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY