Frequently Asked Questions

In this section you will find the answers to most frequently asked questions that you might have about the WMO Contacts Directory.

i.   To become a Member of WMO, a State which is a Member of the United Nations and has a Meteorological Service must deposit an instrument of accession with the Government of the United States of America, which shall notify each Member of the Organization thereof. 

ii.  Where a State that has its own Meteorological Service is not a Member of the United Nations, a request for membership must be submitted to the WMO Secretariat for approval by two-thirds of WMO Members. 
iii. A territory or group of territories, maintaining its own Meteorological Service and not responsible for the conduct of its international relations, must submit a request for membership through the Member responsible for its international relations to the WMO Secretariat for approval by two-thirds of WMO Members.

 

At the time of its membership with WMO, the new Member has the right to belong to an association if the Member is exclusively technically and financially responsible for the maintenance of a network of meteorological or hydrological stations lying in or extending into the limits of the concerned region, if the stations are situated on the territory of that Member.  

Membership of a regional association does not involve any additional obligation for the Members but gives them the right to participate in the various activities of the association. 

 

Interest in representation on one or both technical commissions must be submitted through written notification to the Secretary-General by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the Permanent Mission accredited to the United Nations Office in Geneva, or the Ministry with responsibility for the NMHS. Notification of this membership should be submitted no later than 60 days before the ordinary session of the commission.  

Further details are available through General Regulation 141(b)  of Basic Documents No. 1 (2023 edition).

A Member (State or territory) shall appoint a Hydrological Adviser, in consultation with the Permanent Representative, through a written notification to the WMO Secretary-General from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Permanent Mission. The Hydrological Adviser should preferably be the Director of the National Hydrological Service or other national hydrological agency.  

Further details are available in General Regulation 5(b) of Basic Documents No. 1 (2023 edition). 

A Member (State or territory) shall designate a Permanent Representative with WMO through a written notification to the WMO Secretary-General from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including its Permanent Mission accredited to the United Nations Office in Geneva, or Ministry with responsibility for the Meteorological Service.  A Permanent Representative should be the Director of the Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service (NMHS), who is responsible for technical matters for the Member between sessions of Congress.  

Further details are available in General Regulation 5(a) of Basic Documents No. 1 (2023 edition) . 

 

The Executive Council is comprised of the President and three (3) Vice-Presidents of the Organization, the six (6) presidents of Regional Associations (ex officio) and twenty-seven (27) Directors of Meteorological and Hydrological Services of Members of the Organization. Eligibility for election to these offices is confined to those persons who are designated as Directors of their Meteorological Services by the Members of the Organization.  

Executive Council members are representatives of the Organization and not representatives of particular Members. 

Executive Council members are elected at the regular session of Congress. During the intersessional period and in the event that a seat of the Council becomes vacant following a member’s departure, an acting member is designated by the Council either by correspondence, or at the annual session of the Council, depending on when the vacancy takes place.  

Further details are available through Articles 6 and 13 of the WMO Convention.  

Distribution of seats in the Executive Council

The thirty-seven (37) seats of the Executive Council are allocated as follows, based on WMO General Regulation 16 : 

Region I (Africa) 9; Region II (Asia): 6; Region III(South America):4; Region IV (North America, Central America and the Caribbean): 5; Region V (South-West Pacific): 4 and Region VI (Europe):9. 

A WMO Partner may be a national, regional or international inter-governmental or non-governmental organization with which WMO has established formal cooperation through an agreement.  

The head of the concerned entity should send an official letter addressed to the WMO Secretary-General, expressing interest in partnership with WMO. 

The request will be reviewed in line with the relevant procedures governed by Article 26 of the WMO Convention on Relations with other organizations. 

For those agreements which include specific reciprocal arrangements for attendance at constituent body sessions in particular, representatives of these partner entities are invited to participate to WMO sessions as Observers (i.e. without the right to vote).