Office of the Secretary-General

Appointment of the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General is appointed by Congress, the supreme body of the Organization, for a four-year term. Following the decision of Thirteenth World Meteorological Congress (Resolution No. 36), a Secretary-General can serve a maximum of three four-year terms. The appointment of the Secretary-General is governed by a strict procedure which is stipulated in the WMO Convention and General Regulations. Since 1 January 2004, Mr Michel Jarraud (France) has been the Secretary-General of the WMO.

Duties and role of the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General is responsible for the overall technical and administrative work of the Secretariat. This includes promoting compliance by WMO Members of the decisions of the Organization; liaising with the WMO President and Vice-Presidents, presidents of technical commissions and regional associations, Member States and Territories and international organizations; representing WMO when negotiating with these authorities; nominating his representatives on WMO subsidiary bodies and on those of other organizations; attending their meetings or issuing guidance to his representative; channeling communications between WMO and its Members and between constituent bodies and other organizations or other constituent bodies; and keeping the presidents of constituent bodies advised of the activities and recommendations of other constituent bodies and of other international organizations pertaining to their field of work.

The Secretary-General's managerial and administrative functions are supported through the Executive Management Committee, comprising all Directors, administrative machinery dealing with administrative issues and special internal thematic steering committees, advisory boards, coordination groups and task teams dealing with cross-cutting programmatic and emerging issues. Thematic committees and boards include: the Publications Board, Communication Board, Procurement and Contracts Committee, Fellowships Committee, Information Systems Strategy Advisory Committee, Steering Committee on Climate Activities, Steering Committee on Integrated Observing System, Steering Committee on Disaster Reduction, Steering Committee on Water-related Issues and the Steering Committee on the International Polar Year 2007-2008.

The Secretary-General maintains high-level contacts within the United Nations system through, in particular, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination. He also maintains contact with the permanent missions, the executive heads of intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental development partners, and the highest policy- and decision-makers at the national level.