The global workforce in the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of the 193 WMO Members is estimated to be in excess of 300 000. But only approximately half of the Organization's Members have educational infrastructures that can address some of the initial and ongoing specialist education and training needs of Meteorological and Hydrological Services. That means that about half do not have any access to such facilities. And, of those with facilities, some do not cover the full breadth and depth of the required skill areas. WMO assist Member with the development of human resources through training, the provision of educational material and the awarding of fellowships.
It is a constant challenge to increase the capacity of the WMO education and training community to meet initial education needs as well as the need for ongoing continuous professional development. As demand expands for weather, climate and water services to include disaster risk reduction in forecasts the challenge gets ever greater. The WMO Global Campus, which builds upon the existing network of WMO Regional Training Centres (RTCs), will help Members to meet this need by making more opportunities available through increased cooperation and collaboration between the Centres and affiliated training institutes.
With well over 30 components worldwide, there is a WMO Regional Training Centres near you offering residence classes, distance-learning and blended learning on a diverse portfolio of subjects: