On 25 November 2025, WMO hosted the concluding session of the 2-days workshop on Gender Mainstreaming Across Hydrometeorological Services. This event provided an opportunity for WMO Members, partners, and experts to exchange experiences, identify challenges and good practices, and jointly reflect on how to strengthen gender responsiveness across the hydrometeorological value chain.
The workshop highlighted the importance of systematically embedding gender considerations into service delivery, institutional processes, community engagement, and professional pathways.
The opening session presented examples of how gender mainstreaming can strengthen service reach and community resilience. A notable good practice was the Nepal case study, which illustrated a transition from radio-only dissemination to community-based and woman-led communication models. This shift is especially significant in contexts where traditional communication channels - such as radio, television, and newspapers - are primarily accessed by men. Empowering women to produce and disseminate their own models helps ensure that early warnings and climate information reach all segments of society.
Another good practice highlighted was the expansion of the WMO Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Network , with 24 newly nominated focal points from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to support it. Through mentorship and continuous learning platforms such as the Collaboration Hub, this network aims to strengthen women's participation and access to hydrometeorological services.
Gender in Health, Agriculture, and Energy Climate Services
In this session, discussions focused on gender in health, agriculture, and energy climate services. Good practices demonstrated that simple measures such as gender-sensitive outreach, childcare support, and culturally relevant facilitation can significantly strengthen women's ability to access, understand, and act on hydrometeorological information, including early warnings, to better prepare for climate and disaster risks.
Training women as local leaders, whether as observational instrument operators, data collectors, scientists, or community focal points, helps build women's ownership and strengthens long-term resilience. The session underscored that gender mainstreaming is not a checkbox in hydrometeorological services, but a means to make systems smarter, more inclusive, and ultimately more effective. When women's inclusion increases as users, providers, or decision makers, weather and climate services become more gender-responsive across the whole value chain.
Gender in Aviation and Marine Meteorological Services
This session showcased good practices from partner organizations and WMO Members working in aviation and marine meteorology. The International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Women in Maritime Day and associated initiatives, including the recent WISTA study and the Global Strategy for Women in Maritime Associations , were highlighted as valuable efforts to elevate women's visibility and leadership. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)'s Empowering Women in Hydrography project has also played a key role in increasing women's participation in national hydrographic offices.
The session also featured a case study from the Hong Kong Observatory, demonstrating how mentorship and leadership opportunities can effectively support women in aviation meteorology.
Gender in Hydrology and Disaster Risk Reduction
In this session, speakers emphasized communication, outreach, and representation as fundamental components of gender-responsive hydrology and disaster risk reduction. Good practices included the use of local languages, clear symbols, and non-technical language to ensure that information is accessible to all. Direct community outreach, particularly engaging women in rural areas, farmers, and local champions, was presented as essential for strengthening trust and dissemination.
Inclusive institutional processes, including gender workshops, surveys, and engaging more women in managerial roles, were highlighted as steps toward organizational transformation. The importance of women's leadership and representation was discussed, underscoring the need for women role models across all fields and governance levels. Inspirational examples from Ghana, Syria, Indonesia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina demonstrated how adapting training approaches - such as scheduling training sessions for women farmers outside of daytime working hours - can significantly increase participation and impact.
When you educate women, you educate the nation.
What comes next
Across sessions, discussions pointed to a shared understanding of the barriers that continue to limit gender equality in hydrometeorological services. These include structural and institutional inequalities, lack of sex-disaggregated data, underrepresentation of women in technical and leadership roles, limited access to technology and education, patriarchal norms, socioeconomic constraints, and gaps in gender-responsive communication and outreach. Participants formulated a set of final recommendations based on the session inputs:
- Establish mentorship and leadership development programmes that span the entire hydrometeorological value chain, including service design, community engagement, and user interface components.
- Develop communication strategies and visibility campaigns showcasing women role models and raise awareness among stakeholders and the public.
- Promote systematic gender balance in panel discussions, conferences, technical tables, and other high-visibility venues.
- Encourage National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to implement gender-balanced career development pathways within their institutions.
- Strengthen co-design processes for gender-responsive hydrometeorological services and raise awareness of risks stemming from gender-differentiated access to warnings and climate information.
- Create dedicated and recurring dialogue spaces for women and young professionals, including cross-generational and interinstitutional exchanges at national, regional, and global levels.
- Develop institutional guidelines that support Members in implementing strategies for improving gender balance and strengthening organizational capacity.
The recommendations will be presented during the fourth session of the Commission for Weather, Climate, Hydrological, Marine and Related Environmental Services and Applications (SERCOM-4) towards an increased and reinforced commitment to equal opportunities and hydrometeorological services that leave no one behind.
The workshop also reaffirmed the central role of the WMO Gender Action Plan (GAP) as the organization's key instrument for guiding and supporting Members in advancing gender equality across weather, climate, water, and related services. As Members continue to implement the GAP, the good practices and recommendations emerging from this workshop will further contribute to its operationalization, ensuring that gender equality remains a sustained and measurable priority across the hydrometeorological community.
