IMO’s Technical Cooperation Committee has made headway towards finalizing a streamlined, comprehensive strategy for the organization’s technical support for Member States.
IMO's technical cooperation projects were featured in an informal workshop in the margins of TC 74.
Meeting in London from 24 to 28 June, the Committee finalized a revised draft of the IMO Capacity-Development Strategy, aimed at enhancing the maritime capabilities of IMO's Member States, particularly Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.
Addressing Member States at the closing of the meeting, Secretary-General Mr. Arsenio Dominguez said: “You have made good progress in shaping the comprehensive Capacity-Development Strategy. The initial discussions in the working group mark a step forward for our Organization.”
The revised draft strategy combines the existing Capacity-Building Decade 2021-2030 Strategy, with strategies for long-term financing of IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) and resource mobilization for other Technical Cooperation (TC) activities.
The Committee discussed aspects such as overarching vision and mission, specific objectives, thematic priorities, resource mobilization and monitoring and evaluation. It highlighted the value of e-learning and “blended learning” in delivering the strategy, and the role of IMO’s regional presence offices.
The Committee established a correspondence group to further develop and refine the Strategy, with a view to finalizing the work at the next session of the Committee (TC 75).
Regional presence expanded
The Committee welcomed the expansion of the IMO Regional Presence Scheme, which aims to ensure grassroots implementation of technical cooperation activities.
In addition to the four Regional Presence Offices (RPOs) operating in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya and the Philippines, the Committee was updated on key progress made in new RPOs in Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt and Fiji.
- In Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the Office of the regional maritime adviser (RMA) for the Caribbean was upgraded to an RPO in July 2023, with recruitment for the regional coordinator ongoing.
- The RPO in Alexandria, Egypt for the Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to be inaugurated by the IMO Secretary-General in early 2025.
- The RPO in Suva, Fiji for the Pacific Islands is expected to become operational by the end of 2024, following the MoU signed between IMO and Fiji in March 2024.
The Committee asked the Secretariat to conduct a comprehensive review of RPOs to ensure they are well-resourced to deliver on the comprehensive IMO Capacity-Development Strategy.
Resource mobilization for technical cooperation
The Committee noted that a total of $10.32 million was pledged and contributed by donors since the Committee’s last session (TC 73) to support long-term thematic projects. This brings the overall value of the portfolio of projects (including pledges) to $160.3 million.
The Committee welcomed the following pledges announced during TC 74:
- Denmark pledged 20 million Danish Krone (approximately $3 million) over the coming years to support developing countries to participate at key IMO meetings;
- Norway pledged an additional one million Norwegian Krone (approximately $95,000) to support IMO technical cooperation projects.
The Committee expressed its appreciation for all contributions, and encouraged Member States, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and the industry to continue supporting these activities and projects.