The National Meteorological Training School (NMTS) has held a specialized technical training session for senior staff officers of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and community political leaders, including women, youth, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and the elderly from the Kampala Metropolitan area.
This session focuses on the impacts of climate change and strategies for collectively mitigating its adverse effects on their communities.
The two-day training on gender and equity in climate change adaptation, which concludes on April 16, 2025, gathered over 40 participants and took place at Makerere University.
During the event, the Commission’s Chairperson, Hajjati Safia Nalule Jjuko, emphasized the importance of the training, noting that it would equip her staff and community leaders in the Kampala Metropolitan region with knowledge about the detrimental effects of climate change management and encourage them to collaboratively seek solutions.
She highlighted the EOC’s role as a statutory government body tasked with ensuring that all citizens participate equally in the nation’s economic development agenda, which includes access to quality health care, education, and economic empowerment programs.
Jjuko praised the school for providing specialized training in climate change adaptation, mitigation, and management, expressing confidence that her officers would disseminate this knowledge throughout the country.
Dr. Isaac Mugume, the Assistant Commissioner for Forecast Services in the Department of Meteorological Services at the Ministry of Water and Environment, urged stakeholders to engage with the government to advocate for the recruitment of 200 meteorological officers, who were intended to be hired under the previous National Development Plan (NDPIII) but were not.
He stressed the importance of ensuring their recruitment under the new NDP IV to effectively manage climate and weather-related issues at the district level.
‘’The government had planned for the provision for the recruitment of 200 Metrological officers under the outgoing NDPIII but unfortunately it didn’t happen due to unknown technical reasons however the stakeholders are urged to jointly lobby government to ensure that these important officers who feature in the new NDP1V are recruited such that they can be deployed to serve among then district, Municipalities, Cities and county levels.
He observed that currently Metrological matters among the districts are being handled by the environment, agriculture, forest, and commercial officers respectively.
The acting principal of the school Dr. Godwin Ayesiga said the school which is the only one in the country with technical experts on climate change management science skills was able to ensure that they train EOC and local council leaders on issues of climate change, gender and equity adaptation as a deliberate vehicle of creating awareness through sensitizing them with messages on how best to prevent climate change related disasters.
He pointed out that they targeted political leaders from ghetto suburbs such as Bwaise Nansana, and Katanga among others which are potential high-risk communities to disasters by engaging them on mitigating issues such as early warning information and messages to help vulnerable populations such a s PWDs, elderly persons, women and children to avoid such areas
He observed that they are set to secure super computers capable of generating higher resolution and timely forecast information to cover small and specific community suburbs like Komamboga, Bwaise, Ntinda or Kasokoso as opposed to offering the current format of generalized national forecast information.
“Once we secure and install these super computers, we shall be capable for giving timely reports on smaller communities which are seen as extremely vulnerable to climate disasters such that the locals within those localities can take preventive measures of avoiding calamities like floods, heavy rains, and general destruction to both property, and human, and animal lives,” he added.
The participants in reaction to the presentation had expressed disappointment with the Meteorological experts who reportedly give false forecast information however they were ruled out that the due to the persistent destruction of the environment where trees are cut down, the information sent out via media gives a predictive and representative national picture.
