The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) paid a courtesy call to the NiMet on the 7th of April 2023. Speaking on the purpose of their visit, the Team Lead and Head of Office for Nigeria, Mr Trond Jensen, said UN-OCHA had been impressed by the analysis and work that NiMet is doing and was looking into working with the Agency.
This working relationship will greatly enhance the advocacy, urgency efficiency and quality of their humanitarian work in the northeast states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. He further stated that one of the best things UN-OCHA wants to do this year is to have a better working relationship with government institutions so they can be better prepared for this year’s rainy season.
He noted that 2022 was a national disaster in terms of the extent and impact of the flooding and damage to infrastructure hence the emphasis on a closer working relationship with NiMet. UN-OCHA wants to work more closely with NiMet in terms of what will happen this year in comparison with last year and how we can both work better in terms of preparedness, and anticipatory action to be taken. This he stated will give them a better understanding of the impact weather plays on humanitarian work.
Responding, DG/CEO Professor Mansur Bako Matazu said both organisations have a common goal for the convergence of providing early warning for all. He explained that the agency has also achieved a certain level of leadership on the continent in the provision of climate services from co-production to effective dissemination and feedback within the weather and climate value chain.
NiMet currently provides daily weather forecasts to Liberia and Sierra Leone as part of our contribution to WMO’s Voluntary Cooperation Programme (VCP) which have we been running for the last seven years to date. He further disclosed that NiMet will soon be implementing the WMO Systematic Observations Facility Financing (SOFF) project peer review of Liberia and Burkina Faso. NiMet will solely review Liberia, while that of Burkina Faso will be done in conjunction with the Spanish Met Service. Professor Matazu further stated the process is currently underway for a second stage of review of one or two other African countries.
Speaking further, he explained that by working on these projections, NiMet had gained valuable experiences which had enable us to meet our mandate while partnering with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Also, he assured UN-OCHA that NiMet is flexible and is prepared and willing to work with the UN Body and assured them that once we get their target location and elements of interest, NiMet can come up with purposely designed products for their use that can be transmitted electronically. He advised that NiMet currently have a weather app that can be downloaded on both playstore and IOS.
The team were taken on a facility tour.
