World Meteorological Organization

Director, Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific

As Director, Mr. Ben Churchill is leading the WMO Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific (Singapore); the Inter-Regional Office for Arab Region (Bahrain); and the Representative Office for the South-West Pacific (Samoa) to support and build capacity of more than 70 WMO Members (i.e. national meteorological and hydrological services or NMHSs) across the Asia Pacific region and the Arab region through strategic engagement, collaboration and innovation.

His work covers the following areas:

– Enabling 70 WMO Members to deliver better climate, weather, water and environmental services to their communities. Through effective climate adaptation, building resilience against and reducing the impact of extreme climate and weather on lives, livelihoods and property, particularly for the most vulnerable.

– Collaborating with other regional pillar leads (UNDRR, ITU, IFRC and ESCAP), development partners and WMO Members to implement the Early Warnings for All initiative in the region as a proven and cost-effective climate adaptation measure.

– Implementing global and regional initiatives by mobilizing resources that build capacity of WMO Members, including through promoting data exchange, sharing knowledge, experience and skills, and facilitating technical support and training; and fostering research and innovation that transforms science into services, actions and outcomes.

– Increasing the visibility and relevance of WMO Secretariat and WMO Members through promoting their impact and value at national and regional level; and strengthening relationships with partners, the private sector and academia.

– Actively seeking opportunities to close the capacity gap between developed and developing countries in relation to climate, weather and water services by prioritising and scaling up efforts to support Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).