The World Metrology Day 2024 Launch Event was organized by UNESCO in partnership with the BIPM and the OIML on 14 May 2024, marking the official recognition by UNESCO of 20 May each year as a UNESCO International Day. World Metrology Day is the annual celebration of the signature of the Metre Convention on 20 May 1875 by representatives of seventeen nations. The Convention set the framework for global collaboration in the science of measurement and in its industrial, commercial and societal applications.

The Launch Event was an occasion not only to celebrate World Metrology Day but also to demonstrate how it aligns with UNESCO’s mission to construct a better world through science and education.

Keynote speeches focused on the 2024 theme “We Measure Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”, highlighting the pivotal role of metrology in advancing global endeavours toward establishing a sustainable economy and environment for future generations. The presentations featured various initiatives at both national and regional levels, offering insights into how metrology facilitates sustainable development.

A short video showcasing examples of everyday measurements and illustrating how metrology contributes to sustainable development goals was premiered at the event.

Approximately two hundred guests from the Permanent Delegations to UNESCO, Embassies of BIPM Member States and Associates to France, International Organizations and members of the metrology community have attended in person and online.

Throughout the journey to UNESCO proclamation, this proposal was strongly supported by the Permanent Delegation of Kazakhstan to UNESCO and by Her Excellency Gulsara Arystankulova, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to France. The BIPM expresses its sincere thanks to them and to all other UNESCO Member States having endorsed this initiative.

WMD Video

From left to right:
Ms Rahima Guliyeva (Institutional liaison and membership, BIPM), Mr Kangyoung Sung (Principal Officer, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science), Ms Dolores del Campo Maldonado (Chairperson-elect, European Association of National Metrology Institutes), Mr Shaofeng Hu (Director, Division of Science Policy and Basic Sciences, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO), Mr Martin Milton (Director, BIPM), His Excellency Askar Abdrakhmanov (Ambassador, Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan to UNESCO in Paris), Mr Anthony Donnellan (Director, International Bureau of Legal Metrology), Ms Maguelonne Chambon (Director, Research and Development, Laboratoire national de métrologie et d’essais), Mr Anderson Maina (Liaison Officer, BIPM).