JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has been unanimously elected to chair the UN panel tasked with monitoring cyclones in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the Kingdom’s meteorology office said on Wednesday.
The appointment to the 13-nation member World Meteorological Organization/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (WMO/ESCAP) Panel on Tropical Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea is just the latest in the Kingdom’s growing involvement in world affairs.
Ayman bin Salem Ghulam, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Meteorology (NCM), said the appointment is a “testament to the country’s pioneering role and its commitment to addressing critical issues related to disasters and their significant impact on humanity, both regionally and internationally.”
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Ghulam highlighted the importance of strengthening monitoring and forecasting systems to accurately predict cyclones and improving preparedness measures to minimize loss of life and property.
Tasked to promote measures to improve tropical cyclone warning systems in the region, the panel was organized in 1972 in the aftermath of “Bhola”, the world’s deadliest tropical cyclone that killed more than 300,000 people in Bangladesh in November 1970.
From six original members (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand), the panel grew to 13 with Maldives, Oman, and Yemen joining at different times. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Iran, became the latest members in 2018.
