Technical Co-operation Committee (TC), 63rd session: 10 to 12 July 2013
Integrated Technical Co-operation Programme for 2014-2015 approved
IMO’s Integrated Technical Co-operation Programme (ITCP) for the 2014-2015 biennium, which includes a funding requirement of just over US$25 million, for seven regional and eight global programmes, was approved by the Technical Co-operation Committee (TCC), when it met for its 63rd session.
The amount represents 4.6 per cent increase over the previous biennium, due to the increasing needs of developing countries as well as needs for assistance with the implementation of several new IMO instruments.
The regional programmes cover: Africa; Arab States/Mediterranean; Asia, Pacific Islands; CIS/Eastern Europe; Latin America; and Caribbean.
The global programmes are focused on the following themes: Technical Advisory Services (TAS); support to small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs) for their special shipping needs; Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3: Strengthening maritime resource development; capacity-building and training; partnerships and emerging issues; enhancement of maritime security; the Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme; and mitigation of climate change.
Country maritime profile template approved
The Committee approved the template of the country maritime profile, to be used to establish the real capacity-building needs of developing countries as a mechanism to ensure effective delivery of technical assistance.
The Committee approved the template of the country maritime profile, to be used to establish the real capacity-building needs of developing countries as a mechanism to ensure effective delivery of technical assistance.
A restricted-access module under IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) has been developed to enable countries to input their data,
The committee was informed that the country maritime profile would have a fundamental role in formulating maritime policies and it was the intention that all Member States would provide completed profiles by early 2014. An analysis of these would the basis of future technical co-operation from 2015 onwards. As a collective exercise to consider technical assistance regionally, this would create a solid foundation on which to submit proposals for funding to donor agencies.
US$17.3 million spent on IMO’s technical co-operation activities in 2012
The Committee was informed that during 2012, 220 activities were successfully delivered, including 33 advisory and needs assessment missions were organized, as well as 118 national and regional training courses. Some 2,935 persons were trained, 75 fellows completed fellowships in the maritime field, and a further 1,262 government strategy officials attended events aimed at developing and harmonizing regional strategies on maritime technical issues.
Some US$17.3 million was spent against the programmed donor contribution budget of US$21.2 million – the highest level ever recorded for IMO’s delivery of financial resources for technical co-operation.
Meanwhile, in the past 12 months, a total amount of some US$6.5 million has been contributed to the ITCP through six multi-donor trust funds and other financial arrangements, while cash donations made to specific activities totalled over a quarter million US dollars (US$253,569).
In addition, 16 new partnership arrangements for the delivery of technical co-operation activities had been established since TC 62, bringing the total number of partnerships to date to 73, 43 of which had been concluded with developing and developed countries as well as territories, and 30 with international organizations, regional institutions and industry. A new arrangement had been established with France, for the provision of hostship facilities and experts for training events held in Latin America, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean (west) region.
Sustainable financing
The Committee expressed its appreciation to all donors who had made contributions to IMO's technical co-operation activities through various arrangements, noting that since mid April 2012, some US$6.5 million had been contributed to the six multi-donor trust funds (MDTFs) and financial arrangements held by IMO, and that one-off cash donations to specific ITCP activities amounted to US$253,569. Most recently, a contribution of US$10,000 had been received from China to the London Convention/Protocol TC Trust Fund and contributions of US$209,990 and US$150,000 had been received from Denmark and the United Nations Development Programme respectively, to the IMO Djibouti Code of Conduct Trust Fund.
There are currently 15 financial arrangements in operation, 11 of which had been established with Government agencies of Canada, Egypt, India, Italy, Norway, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, and the remainder with international and regional organizations and industry.
The multi-donor trust funds established by IMO include: the International Maritime Security Trust Fund; the International Search and Rescue Fund; the International Ship Recycling Trust Fund; the IMO Malacca and Singapore Straits Trust Fund; the IMO Djibouti Code of Conduct Trust Fund; and the London Convention/London Protocol TC Trust Fund. A new multi-donor trust fund was in the process of being established, to support an expanded programme of capacity-building activities in West and Central Africa.
IMO Member State Audit Scheme update
The Committee was updated on the training programme for auditors for the Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS), noting that a total of 525 individuals from 149 countries had been trained through 35 regional courses/workshops, three of which were delivered in the first half of 2013. In addition, one regional workshop for maritime administrators was scheduled for delivery during the second half of 2013.
The Committee was updated on the training programme for auditors for the Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS), noting that a total of 525 individuals from 149 countries had been trained through 35 regional courses/workshops, three of which were delivered in the first half of 2013. In addition, one regional workshop for maritime administrators was scheduled for delivery during the second half of 2013.
The audit scheme is being institutionalized into a mandatory scheme, and the draft IMO Instruments Implementation Code (III Code), has been finalized for adoption by the twenty eighth session of the Assembly in November 2013, with amendments to the relevant instruments to make it mandatory set to be adopted in 2014.
The Secretary-General informed the Committee that the Secretariat was exploring a mechanism which would take into account the information provided through the country maritime profiles and enable a linkage between the outcomes of the audits as input to programming of technical assistance through the ITCP. The introduction of the Mandatory IMO Member State Audit Scheme from 2016 was likely to lead to an increase in assessed requirements and consequently an increase in the overall size of the ITCP and the funds necessary to deliver it.
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