World Meteorological Organization

Gender Mainstreaming

In 2018, Resolution 6 of the sixteenth session of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology (CAeM-16) observed that women were underrepresented in the working structures of the Commission, that increased female participation was required, and that strategies should be devised to increase the involvement of women in the work of the Commission. Following WMO Governance Reform in 2020, the level of participation of women in the work of WMO in the aeronautical meteorology domain had remained largely unchanged such that, of the 250 experts (approximately) nominated by Permanent Representatives to assist the ‘Services for Aviation’ skills area, only around 50 experts (20%) were female.

Since WMO Governance Reform and the dissolution of the CAeM, the follow-up of Resolution 6 (CAeM-16) has been addressed by the Standing Committee on Services for Aviation (SC-AVI) through the establishment of a Thematic Coordinator on Gender Mainstreaming. The Coordinator’s role is to help guide SC-AVI’s implementation of the overarching WMO Gender Action Plan through the development of strategies and activities that aim to promote the involvement and inclusion of women, particularly in the aeronautical meteorology domain.

In 2021, SC-AVI conducted a global survey (online questionnaire) to obtain feedback on the status of gender equality in aeronautical meteorology, with a particular focus on the viewpoints of research scientists, technicians, observers, forecasters, service managers and senior managers working at aeronautical meteorological stations, offices or other centres.

The survey addressed the following areas:

1. General information including affiliation of the respondent within the international aeronautical meteorology community.
2. Policies, action plans and guidelines on gender equality and/or empowerment of women within the respondent’s agency.
3. Training events and human resources policies and measures to promote and increase gender equality within the respondent’s agency
4. Gender equality and empowerment of women issues in the aeronautical meteorology domain that the respondents may be experiencing.
5. Strategies to improve the participation of women in the work of WMO in the aeronautical meteorology domain

Staff and management, regardless of gender, working in the aeronautical meteorology domain of a national meteorological service or other agency designated to provide aeronautical meteorological services (public or private sector), were encouraged to complete the survey. More than 500 responses were duly received across all six WMO regional associations. The responses the survey were anonymized and then aggregated by SC-AVI on a regional and global basis.

After few months of final editing, a report on the outcomes of the survey has been published in March 2023 and is available under the WMO e-Library (here). The report is part of the WMO Aeronautical Meteorology (AeM) SERIES of publications. It includes a series of conclusions and recommendations to help WMO, SC-AVI and others concerned devise strategies to increase the involvement of women in the aeronautical meteorology domain and to promote them to higher positions of responsibility at the national and international level. These conclusions and recommendations will also contribute to both SERCOM’s and WMO’s gender action plans and related initiatives.

In parallel to the publication of the report, SC-AVI has issued an information sheet (flyer), translated into all official languages of WMO, which presents the most salient information arising from the survey:

English | French | Spanish | Russian | Chinese | Arabic

Please contact the WMO Secretariat if you have any questions about the outcomes of the global survey or WMO's efforts to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in the aeronautical meteorology domain.

CLICK HERE to read about women in leadership in aeronautical meteorology

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