The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is founded in 1950 as a specialised agency under the United Nations, WMO sets standards and policies worldwide in weather and climate matters, leads and coordinates international efforts for monitoring, forecasting, and reducing disaster risks. Over the past five decades, the global loss of life due to extreme hydro-meteorological events has decreased by a factor of 10.

To a significant extent, this can be attributed to the persistent efforts of WMO, which oversees all its 191 member states and territories to implement the adopted policies, resulting in better monitoring, forecasting, and publicising of meteorological hazards on a global scale.