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GENERAL SUMMARY 35the International Conference on Urban Hydrology forthe 21 st Century (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2002)and that Guidelines on Urban Hydrology were beingdeveloped on the basis of the papers presented atthe Conference.Programme on Capacity-Building in Hydrologyand Water Resources8.35 The Association noted that that programmeactivity, implemented in close cooperation with theEducation and Training Programme (ETRP) ofWMO, encouraged the systematic review of staff andtraining needs of NHSs and supported varioustraining events. It also noted the development of astrategy for capacity-building to build up a long-termperspective on capacity-building in hydrology andwater resources.8.36 The Association was informed that WMOhad organized or co-sponsored a number of coursesand workshops in hydrology and water resourcesduring the past intersessional period. Those coursesincluded regular training courses which wereapproved by Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congressand others that had been proposed by Membercountries.8.37 The Association was pleased to learn thatthe Guidelines for the Education and Training ofPersonnel in Meteorology and OperationalHydrology (WMO-No. 258), Volume I — Hydrologyhad been prepared by the Editorial Task Force —Hydrology and covered the field of integrated waterresources management. The volume had beenprepared with contributions from the HydrologicalServices of various Regions, and CHy, UNESCOand external experts had carried out its review in twosteps: (1) by CHy and UNESCO; and (2) by twoexternal reviewers. The English version of thatvolume had been sent to all Members during the firsthalf of 2004.Programme on Water-Related Issues8.38 The Association noted that closecollaboration had been maintained between WMOand other United Nations organizations dealing withwater in the framework of the United NationsInteragency Committee on Freshwater (UN-Water)and that one of the main activities of UN-Water wasnow directed towards the preparation of the secondWorld Water Development Report (WWDR) withemphasis on development of performanceindicators. WMO was contributing to the chapterson: 'The nature of the resource', for which WMO hadlead responsibility; 'Managing risks' for which WMOhad joint lead responsibility with ISDR; and 'Ensuringthe knowledge base', for which WMO was one of thecontributing agencies.8.39 The Association was informed that WMOand ISDR had been the lead secretariats within theUnited Nations for the global celebration of WorldWater Day (WWD) 2004 with “water and disasters”as the theme. The emphasis in the awarenesscampaign was ‘be informed and be prepared’. WMOhad prepared an information kit that included abooklet, a poster and fact sheets on the activities ofvarious United Nations agencies in the field of waterrelateddisasters.8.40 The Association noted with interestactivities aimed towards the establishment of a jointWMO/UNESCO Committee on Floods. It furthernoted that a Task Team had been established by theWMO and UNESCO Secretariats to develop aconcept paper for that purpose based on needs andrequirements, the core competences of the twoorganizations and tasks that could be jointlyundertaken. The Association saw the opportunity forenhanced collaboration between WMO andUNESCO in the establishment and implementationof the planned Joint UNESCO/WMO Flood Initiative(JUWFI), which it recognized as having potentiallysignificant benefit for its Members.8.41 The Association was informed that theUnited Nations General Assembly, with its resolutionA/RES/58/217 adopted on 23 December 2003, hadproclaimed the period from 2005 to 2015 as theInternational Decade for Action, “Water for Life”,commencing on WWD on 22 March 2005. Theresolution called upon the relevant United Nationsbodies, specialized agencies, regional commissionsand other organizations of the United Nationssystem to deliver a coordinated response, to makethe “Water for Life” a “Decade for Action”.8.42 The Association was pleased to learn ofWMO’s participation at the third World Water Forum(WWF3) and the Ministerial Conference on theoccasion of WWF3 held from 16 to 23 March 2003 inKyoto, Japan. It was pleased to learn that WMO hadconvened a joint session on integrated floodmanagement along with the session on people,floods and vulnerability reduction. WMO had alsoconvened sessions on climate change and variabilityimpact on water resources in Africa during theregional Day for Africa, and on water and informationin Osaka, Japan. The Association was alsoinformed of the publication of the booklet Water anddisasters: Be informed and be prepared (WMO-No.971) as part of the public awareness effort of WWD2004. In that same context, the January 2004 issueof the WMO Bulletin had been dedicated to thetheme “Water and Disasters”.8.43 The Association noted with interest theimplementation of the Associated Programme onFlood Management (APFM), funded by Japan andthe Netherlands, which was of special significance toWMO and Members. The initiative was a joint projectundertaken by WMO and the Global WaterPartnership (GWP). In the framework of that project,a concept paper on integrated flood managementhad been developed, printed in several languagesand circulated. Major activities of the APFM aimed atthe preparation and publication of advisory material;collection of approximately 20 case studies andextraction of good practices; implementation ofregional pilot projects; and the dissemination of
36 ABRIDGED FINAL REPORT OF THE THIRTEENTH SESSION OF RA IIknowledge at various conferences, exhibitions andother related forums. In RA II, a pilot project oncommunity-based approaches to flood managementwas being undertaken in selected communities inBangladesh, India and Nepal.Cooperation with international river basincommissions and non-governmentalorganizations8.44 The Association was informed of thecontact between WMO and a number of internationalriver basin commissions, including MRC, ICIMODand ESCAP, leading to very fruitful collaboration oncertain joint projects, including activities related tothe TCP, and the establishment of hydrologicalinformation and forecasting systems, also in thecontext of WHYCOS.8.45 With a view to expanding andstrengthening cooperation between regional andriver basin organizations in the Region, theAssociation noted with appreciation that a number ofcollaboration activities had been initiated, amongstthem the signing of a MoU between WMO and theMRC in 2002 with the aim of assisting the MRCthrough the establishment of a flood informationsystem and improving the flood forecasting capacityof NHMSs in the Mekong river basin in theframework of a Mekong-HYCOS project. A MoUbetween WMO and ICIMOD had been signed in2002 with the principal aim to establish a floodinformation system and to improve flood forecastingcapacity of NHMSs in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH)region in the framework of an HKH-HYCOS project.Furthermore, a MoU with ESCAP had been signed in2003 with the objective to enhance cooperationbetween WMO and ESCAP in the fields of disasterreduction, hydrology and water resources as well asissues related to climate and weather.Exchange of hydrological data and products8.46 The Association was informed on progressin the promotion of the issue of international dataexchange and encouragement of the implementationof Resolution 25 (Cg-XIII) — Exchange ofhydrological data and products, at internationalforums such as during the World Summit onSustainable Development (WSSD)(August/September 2002, South Africa), the WWF3(March 2003, Japan) and the Pan AfricanImplementation and Partnership Conference onWater (December 2003, Ethiopia). As requested byFourteenth Congress, a questionnaire on theexchange of hydrological data and products hadbeen circulated to river basin organizations andInternational Data Centres (IDCs) to obtain theircomments and views on the status of theinternational exchange of data.8.47 The Association noted with concern thatthe exchange of hydrological data and information ina timely manner was still inadequate to meet userrequirements, especially in the fields of global andregional water resources assessment and globalclimate issues, and recommended that further effortsbe undertaken to implement Resolution 25 (Cg-XIII)in the region.8.48 Progress had also been achieved in theCHy project on metadata that was undertaken inclose collaboration with the GRDC and GTN-Hwhere a draft report was under preparation. Thoseactivities were undertaken in close collaboration withthe WWW Group on Data Management, in particularwith regard to the refinement and implementation ofa WMO metadata standard that conformed torelevant International Organization forStandardization (ISO) standards, which were ofrelevance to the international exchange ofhydrological and meteorological data.8.49 The Association also recognized theimportance of standardization of data and metadatain hydrology to facilitate the international exchangeof hydrological data and information, in the context ofthe FWIS.9. EDUCATION AND TRAININGPROGRAMME — REGIONAL ASPECTS(agenda item 9)General9.1 The Association examined the informationon the implementation of the ETRP in the Regionsince its last session. In noting with appreciation theprogress achieved and the assistance provided toMembers in developing their trained manpowerresources, the Association stressed that educationand training activities were fundamental for thesuccess of all WMO Programmes.9.2 The Association was pleased to noteChapter 6.6 of the 6LTP (2004–2011) as adopted byFourteenth Congress and urged its Members toensure that all necessary actions were taken to meetthe objectives of the Plan.Human resources development9.3 The Association reaffirmed the importanceof the human resources development programme inassisting the Secretariat and NMHSs, particularly indeveloping countries, to plan and mobilize thefinancial and other resources to meet Members’training needs. In that respect, the Associationnoted that 58 per cent of its Members hadresponded to the survey questionnaire and that theresults of the 2002 survey of Members’ trainingrequirements for the fourteenth financial period(2004–2007) had been published as WMO/TD -No.1154.9.4 Noting the identified increase in thenumber of personnel to be trained, the Associationencouraged its Members to make every effort tobecome self-reliant in the basic training ofmeteorological and operational hydrologicalpersonnel. The Association felt that there was aneed for cooperation and coordination of educationand training activities in the Region to better meetthe expressed requirements and to use available
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