About us

Structure of the Organization

World Meteorological Congress, the supreme body of the Organization, brings together the delegates of Members once every four years to determine general policies for the fulfilment of the purposes of the Organization, to approve long-term plans, to authorize maximum expenditure for the following financial period, to adopt Technical Regulations relating to international meteorological and operational hydrological practice, to elect the President and Vice-Presidents of the Organization and members of the Executive Council and to appoint the Secretary-General.

The Executive Council, the executive body of the Organization, is responsible to Congress for the coordination of the programmes of the Organization and the utilization of its budgetary resources in accordance with the decision of Congress. Composed of 37 directors of National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Services, it meets at least once a year to implement the programmes approved by Congress and review the activities of the Organization.

The six regional associations are each composed of Members whose task it is to coordinate meteorological, hydrological and related activities within their respective Regions (Africa; Asia; South America; North America, Central America and the Caribbean; South-West Pacific; and Europe).

The eight technical commissions, composed of experts designated by Members, study matters within their specific areas of competence (technical commissions have been established for basic systems, instruments and methods of observation, atmospheric sciences, aeronautical meteorology, agricultural meteorology, oceanography and marine meteorology (jointly with IOC of UNESCO), hydrology and climatology).

The Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, serves as the administrative, documentation and information centre of the Organization. It prepares, edits, produces and distributes the publications of the Organization, carries out the duties specified in the Convention and other Basic Documents and provides support to the work of the constituent bodies of WMO described above.

The Secretariat hosts Regional Offices for Africa, Asia and the South-West Pacific, the Americas, and Europe. The Regional Offices supervise related WMO offices in the field.

There are two liaison offices: one in New York and one in Brussels.

Top