Director, Communications Office UNDP New York “…I'm writing to ask you to be sure to include our colleagues at the World Meteorological Organisation in your UNCG country meetings when their presence is relevant to the subject matter. Because so much of our work, particularly in crisis and natural disaster situations, is strongly affected by weather and other environmental factors, it is important that representatives of our partner countries' National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) participate in these discussions. Invitations to these meetings should be addressed to WMO permanent representatives, who are usually the directors of NMHSs…” David Morrison Director, Communications Office UNDP New York in response to specific recommendations put forward at the UN Communications Group annual meeting last June, -----Original Message----- From: David Morrison [mailto:david.morrison@undp.org] Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 10:37 AM To: 'Communications Officers-Latin America & the Caribbean'; 'Communications Officers-Europe and the CIS'; 'Communications Officers-Asia and the Pacific'; 'Communications Officers-Arab States'; 'Communications Officers- Africa-Francophone countries'; 'Communications Officers- Africa-Anglophone and lusophone countries' Cc: cassandra.waldon@undp.org; benjamin.craft@undp.org; 'Francoise Gerber' Subject: Request: World Meteorological Organisation Dear Colleagues, As part of our continuing efforts to unify and harmonize UN action at the country level, and in response to specific recommendations put forward at the UN Communications Group annual meeting last June, I'm writing to ask you to be sure to include our colleagues at the World Meteorological Organisation in your UNCG country meetings when their presence is relevant to the subject matter. Because so much of our work, particularly in crisis and natural disaster situations, is strongly affected by weather and other environmental factors, it is important that representatives of our partner countries' National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) participate in these discussions. Invitations to these meetings should be addressed to WMO permanent representatives, who are usually the directors of NMHSs. Please find attached a contact list for these representatives. Many thanks, and best regards, David Morrison Director Communications Office UNDP

From WMO SG to NMHSs “…UNCG country teams include communications focal points of all United Nations entities operating in the country. They seek to strengthen UN inter-Agency cooperation in the field of communications and to increase the media profile of UN activities at the national and/or regional level. It is anticipated that involvement in UN communication teams will add important meteorological information when most needed and increase awareness about the vital contribution of NMHSs in coping with humanitarian crisis situations and in the aftermath of natural disasters…” I welcome the action taken by the United Nations in response to specific recommendations put forward by the WMO Secretariat and adopted by the UN Communications Group (UNCG) at its 2006 annual meeting. It was proposed that “WMO communicators at the national level, namely WMO information and public affairs focal points in National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, be invited to participate in UNCG country meetings when relevant, notably in humanitarian crisis situations due to natural disasters”.

IPA network NMHS IPA Focal Points United Nations Communications Group at national and regional levels WMO online News from Members NMHS link to WMO website United Nations Communications Group Headquarters (press briefings) UNCG country teams Specialized Agencies and Programmes Media: journalists and weather presenters