RWANDA HOSTED CONTINENTAL REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTERS (RCC), KNOWLEDGE-SHARING WORKSHOP ON STRENGTHENING REGIONAL AND CONTINENTAL CLIMATE PREDICTION AND CO-PRODUCTION MECHANISM IN AFRICA.
The whole week workshop brings together the Continental Regional Climate Centers (RCCs), specialized institutions designated under the World Meteorological Organization framework to support climate services at a continental scale, and the UK Met Office, which was convened from 09th to 17th July 2026 in Rwanda.
The workshop was a big part of the Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) and the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in partnership with the UK Met Office.
The workshop aimed to promote consistency, interoperability, and comparability of forecasts, strengthen scientific credibility, enhance collaboration, improve user communication, and support sustainable continent-wide climate service delivery.
The Knowledge-Sharing Workshop will bring together representatives from RCCs across Africa, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), Regional and continental climate information users, and stakeholders. It will focus on harmonizing RCC methodologies and strengthening collaboration, including the exchange of best practices in forecast calibration, bias correction, and downscaling, co-production, and the establishment of an Inter-RCC Community of Practice to sustain peer learning and technical exchange.
The sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) climate prediction symposium, also known as the second session, brought together representatives from RCCs across Africa, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), where they shared S2S regional experience sharing from African NMHSs: current capacity, operational challenges
In his opening remarks, DG of MEREO RWANDA and PR of WMO in Rwanda welcomed the participants on behalf of the Government of Rwanda. He emphasized that the workshop provides an important platform for strengthening knowledge sharing, exchanging best practices, and enhancing collaboration among regional climate centers and stakeholders to improve the quality and usability of climate prediction services across Africa.
“I emphasize that all sessions dedicated to knowledge exchange will be highly productive. I am confident that the Sub-seasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Climate Prediction Symposium will be equally fruitful. This intellectual engagement will contribute significantly to strengthening climate information and enhancing weather forecasting services”.
During the workshop, participants from various African countries articulated the key insights gained, highlighting the value of the engagement in strengthening and advancing climate services at the continental level.
Dr. Hussen Seid Representative of ICPAC, said “This symposium has provided a significant opportunity for our sector, offering ample time to exchange ideas, identify key challenges, and explore practical solutions. It also enabled us to learn from one another, and these insights will greatly support the enhancement of climate services in our respective countries and at the continental level. Overall, the symposium has been highly productive and beneficial, not only for us as participants but also for the broader communities we serve.”
At the Continental RCCs Knowledge-Sharing Workshop in Rwanda, ACMAD launched the Africa Climate and Health Desk to bridge climate science and health for a resilient Africa. The desk will serve as a continental hub for climate- health action, providing technical, operational, and collaborative functions aimed at transforming climate data into actionable information that supports lifesaving decisions.
Key proposed solutions on Strengthening Regional and Continental climate prediction and Co-Production Mechanism in Africa are to provide awareness of the current state of sub-seasonal forecasting, the resources available, and some examples of the possibilities for tailoring of sub-seasonal forecasts as impacts-based forecast products.
Seasonal forecasts provide a general indication of the expected weather conditions over the next few months, whereas sub-seasonal forecasts can potentially provide early notification about specific weather events. It would be a missed opportunity to unthinkingly adopt the conventions used for seasonal forecasts when establishing sub-seasonal forecasting standards.
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