GMet Constitutes Nine-Member Committee to Guide Establishment of WMO Regional Training Centre
The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has constituted a nine-member Steering Committee to oversee and guide the establishment of a proposed World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Training Centre (RTC) in Ghana.
The Committee, chaired by a member of the GMet Governing Board, Professor Austin Ablo, will coordinate the next phase of the process, including the development and review of relevant documents, stakeholder consultations and engagements with the WMO towards the recognition of the Centre.
The Committee was constituted at the close of a two-day stakeholder sensitisation workshop held at the AH Hotel in Accra from August 26th to 27th, 2026.
The workshop brought together representatives from the WMO, African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), AGRHYMET Regional Centre, government institutions, academia, development partners, embassies, the aviation and maritime sectors, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other stakeholders.
The engagement sought to build consensus on the proposed Centre, identify priority training needs, discuss academic, administrative and governance arrangements, explore strategic partnerships and sustainable financing, and establish a pathway towards WMO recognition.
In his closing remarks, the Director-General of GMet, Dr. Eric Asuman, expressed appreciation to participants for their turnout and active participation despite the short notice with which the workshop was organised.
He said the workshop had been organised in barely two weeks, with invitations sent approximately one week before the event. He commended the organising team for following up with institutions despite administrative delays and thanked participants for enriching the discussions with their contributions.
Dr. Asuman also thanked members of the newly constituted Steering Committee for accepting the responsibility to guide the process, noting that the work would require considerable time and commitment.
The Director-General urged all participating institutions to communicate the outcomes of the workshop to their respective organisations and secure their continued commitment to the initiative. He stressed that while GMet would host the proposed Centre, its success would depend on the collective support and ownership of stakeholders.
Dr. Asuman also assured participants that gender considerations would be mainstreamed into the Centre’s documents, programmes and structures, while noting the importance of youth participation.
He expressed the hope that the next time stakeholders gathered, it would be to celebrate the successful designation of Ghana as a WMO Regional Training Centre.
Representing the WMO, Mr. Bernard Gomez said the proposed Centre must be developed as a facility for Ghana, West Africa and the wider African region, while ensuring that its academic and competency-based training programmes conformed to WMO guidelines and globally recognised standards.
He said although GMet would serve as the host and focal institution, the Centre would require the active participation and support of stakeholders to remain relevant and sustainable.
Mr. Gomez urged participating institutions to work with GMet to ensure that the Centre responded to the multi-hazard challenges facing the region and supported the delivery of weather and climate services to all levels of society.
He also called for greater inclusivity in future engagements, particularly improved representation of women, young people, persons with disabilities and older persons.
Mr. Gomez identified the 19th session of the WMO Regional Association for Africa, scheduled to be held in Ghana from February 1 to 5, 2027, as an important opportunity for Ghana to demonstrate its preparedness to host the Centre.
He commended Ghana’s Permanent Representative to the WMO and his team for strengthening linkages with national and regional institutions and acknowledged the contribution of the consultant, Dr. Ernest Afiesimama, to the establishment process.
As part of the consultations preceding the stakeholder workshop, Dr. Asuman engaged the Department of Meteorology and Climate Science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) during his participation in the inception meeting of the West Africa Climate Change and Health Consortium at KNUST from August 25th to 28th, 2026.
The engagement briefed the Department on the proposed Centre and its potential role as an academic partner, while clarifying that the initiative was intended to complement rather than duplicate existing training programmes and expertise.
Dr. Afiesimama also used the visit to familiarise himself with the operations of the Department and the university as part of efforts to strengthen collaboration with the academic partners.
The stakeholder engagement marks a significant step in GMet’s efforts to develop the proposal and secure the institutional, academic and technical arrangements required for the establishment of the Centre, ahead of the WMO Regional Association for Africa meeting in Ghana in February 2027.
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