Strategic Plan for the Enhancement of Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the RA VI Region (2008 - 2011)

Keuerleber-Burk "The area of the Regional Association VI (RAVI) of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) extends over millions of square kilometres, from Iceland to Kazakhstan and from Spitsbergen to the Levant. There are 50 WMO Members forming the RAVI. Their cultural background is often very different and so are their economic capabilities. The Members operate a number of very advanced hydro-meteorological services. However, the capabilities of the Members are unevenly spread. Too many hydrometeorological services in Europe are still not in the position to comply adequately with today’s needs. It is therefore evident that the RAVI Members’ NMHSs and associated institutions should strengthen their cooperation and act together in their task as major contributors to the safety and well being of people, sustainable development and environmental protection. The use of the current potential of hydro-meteorological services and institutions like EUMETSAT and ECMWF should be maximized to bridge the gap in the level of relevant services. In order to address these challenges, the Fourteenth Session of the RAVI (Heidelberg, September 2005) decided to develop a Regional Strategic Plan and an associated Action Plan.

It is clear that the basis for any Regional Strategic Plan should be the Strategic Plan of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) approved by the Fifteenth WMO Congress (Geneva, May 2007). The WMO Strategic Plan defines the high-level and long-term objectives and strategies for WMO to effectively develop and coordinate plans and programs for implementation that enable the 188 Members of WMO to collectively perform their key activities. Consequently, this regional strategic document shall focus on the specific needs and requirements within the RAVI and the subsequent objectives and results pursued by the RAVI Members to contribute to the WMO top priorities in the most efficient way.

It was therefore important to include the Members and the WMO Secretariat from the beginning into the development process of the plan. This was achieved through surveys among the Members and several conferences and through close cooperation with the WMO Office for Europe. With this background, the authors of the RAVI Strategic Plan accomplished their extensive analytical work: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were assessed; needs, issues, and priorities were identified. The result was a number of key drivers and strategic choices, which provide a basis for strategic thrusts and derived expected results.

The RAVI Strategic Plan shall be implemented through a RAVI Action Plan. Annex C of this document provides the principles, the process and the methodologies on which the Action Plan is build upon. The necessary resources are to be mobilized by national governments, by the European Union, the World Bank and other institutions.

However, nothing can be achieved without the devotion of the people who are needed to carry out the actions. I am convinced that those who are addressed with the RAVI Strategic Plan, namely the political decision makers, the directors of the National Hydro-Meteorological Services and the men and women who are directly charged with the implementation, will help and do their best to make the RAVI Strategic Plan a success. I wish to thank all those who gave and will give their support for the continuing development of RAVI.

At this occasion, I also would like to thank the Secretary General of the WMO and the Permanent Representatives with WMO of Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Russian Federation, Switzerland and United Kingdom for allocate a significant amount of human resources; and I wish to express my special appreciation to the authors of this document who accomplished a pioneering task with the development of the first RAVI Strategic Plan."

31.12.2007,

Daniel K. Keuerleber-Burk, President of RAVI

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