The Arab League and the Saudi National Center of Meteorology Gather Arab Journalists in a Workshop to Discuss the Role of Media in Facing Climate Challenges

The work of the specialized media workshop for Arab media professionals interested in meteorological affairs, which was convened by the Meteorological Awareness and Information Committee of the League of Arab States in cooperation with the Saudi National Center of Meteorology, concluded today. The workshop lasted for two days at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo under the title "The Role of the Media in Promoting Awareness of the Importance of Weather and Climate Information", with the participation of a group of Arab journalists and media professionals, media institutions, and satellite channels.

The agenda of the workshop included a discussion of several main topics, including the current and future climate impact on Arab countries, the risks resulting from the escalation of weather phenomena and their impact on societies, the role of the media in raising awareness of weather and climate risks, and highlighting the importance of highlighting meteorological information in news and press reports. The workshop also addressed the promotion of the use of meteorological terminology through the media, and the impact of severe weather events on the activities of life and sustainable development in the region, in addition to reviewing the experiences of leading countries in this field, which contributed to raising community awareness of the importance of following up on weather and climate information.

The participants in the workshop expressed their thanks to the League of Arab States, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Permanent Committee for Meteorology, headed by Dr. Ayman bin Salem Ghulam, for their support to the programs of the Meteorological Awareness and Information Committee. The discussions resulted in a number of recommendations, including increasing training workshops for media professionals, and strengthening cooperation with charitable associations and institutions to raise awareness of the importance of meteorological information. The recommendations also called for building broad media partnerships in Arab countries, and exploiting the prevailing weather conditions to enhance awareness in order to protect lives and property.

The recommendations stressed the importance of simplifying meteorological information and providing it to the media in a way that contributes to accurately transmitting it before the occurrence of climatic events, with the aim of developing specialized media that enhances the importance of meteorology in the Arab media. The participants called on member states to hold more similar workshops to raise the level of meteorological information for journalists and media professionals.

The participants also welcomed the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prepare a "Meteorological Terminology Kit in Sign Language" to serve people with special needs, appreciating the efforts of the National Center of Meteorology in the Kingdom to improve the quality of meteorological information and increase its dissemination at the local and Arab levels, and to organize this distinguished workshop.