THE Philippines hosted early this month the 12th Intergovernmental Session of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission for the Western Pacific (IOC-WESTPAC), a joint project of the Department of Foreign Affairs’s Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office and the Unesco-National Commission of the Philippines, in cooperation with the University of the Philippines-Marine Sciences Institute (UP-MSI).
At the opening ceremony, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Generoso D.G. Calonge welcomed the delegates and recognized the role of the IOC-WESTPAC in ocean science and ocean management.
He said that through the IOC-WESTPAC, the region is able to contribute to the global effort to better understand the oceans research and development, science-based policy guidance, capacity building and models of cooperation.
A mini-symposium on the UN Decade of Ocean Science was also organized, featuring IOC Executive Secretary Dr. Vladimir Ryabinin and UP-MSI Director Dr. Fernando P. Siringan. A signing ceremony for the letter of intent on the hosting of a regional training and research center between IOC and UP-MSI was also held on the sidelines of the meeting.
The IOC-WESTPAC was established in 1989 to promote international cooperation and to coordinate programs in marine research, ocean observations, and services, as well as capacity building in the Western Pacific and adjacent seas.
These are done with the aim of learning more about the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas, and applying that knowledge for the improvement of governance, sustainable development and protection of the marine environment. The organization currently consists of 22 member-states mainly in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Pacific and the eastern Indian Ocean. DFA
FOREIGN AFFAIRS Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office Generoso D.G. Calonge (left photo) delivers his welcome remarks, as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s Executive Secretary Dr. Vladimir Ryabinin and University of the Philippines’s Chancellor Dr. Michael Tan sign the letter of intent between their institutions (right photo). DFA MOAO
Image credits: DFA MOAO