Manila, Philippines — The PEMSEA Executive Committee has not only doubled in size, but more importantly in strength. Following the election of the three East Asian Seas Partnership Council Co-Chairs in July 2011, the expanded Executive Committee immediately proceeded to business and convened the 9th Executive Committee (EC) Meeting in Manila, Philippines last October 24 to 25, 2011.

 

 

Manila, Philippines — The PEMSEA Resource Facility warmly welcomed the new Co-Chairs of the EAS Partnership Council's Executive Committee on the occasion of the 9th Executive Committee Meeting in Manila, Philippines.

 

 

Manila, Philippines — One of PEMSEA's assets is its continuous efforts to pursue excellence and to deliver quality services to the countries of the East Asian Seas region. In order to better facilitate and guide the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), PEMSEA embarked on the development of PEMSEA codes, guidelines and good practices that will serve as key informative materials to the countries and various stakeholders in the region.

 

 

Manila, Philippines — The East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2012 Secretariat launches the Call for Youth applicants for the Third EAS Youth Forum to be held in Changwon City, Republic of Korea, from July 9-13, 2012.

 

The Third EAS Youth Forum (YF3) carries the theme, “Young Champions for the Oceans.” It is a regional platform that aims to enhance the awareness and to develop the leadership potential of the youth of the East Asian Seas region as future managers and practitioners in coastal and ocean management and governance.

 

 

Guimaras Province, Philippines — Twenty-two representatives from the five coastal municipalities: Buenavista, Jordan, Nueva Valencia, San Lorenzo and Sibunag, provincial and national government agencies attended a three-day training on the establishment of integrated information management system (IIMS Module 1) held at the Guimaras Museum on November 8-11, 2011. The three-day training was jointly organized by the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) and the Provincial Government of Guimaras.

 

The 9th Focal Points Meeting of the Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Centre (POMRAC) was held on 25-26 October 2011 in Khabarovsk, Russia. POMRAC focal points and experts participated in the meeting where current activities were reviewed and the workplan for the 2012-2013 biennium were suggested for final approval by the 16th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting to be held in December 2011.

 

The main activities for the next biennium will be, among others:

 

 

The 3rd NOWPAP Training Course on Remote Sensing Data Analysis training course was held at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia on 8-12 October 2011 with PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization which is nicknamed PICES for a Pacific ICES) and IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (IOC/WESTPAC) as co-organizers.

 

 

The 5-week Training Programme (formerly the Training Programme on Regional Ocean Governance for Mediterranean and Eastern European Countries) was successfully organised in Malta for the seventh consecutive year in November-December 2011.

 

The change in course title from previous programmes was made to more accurately reflect the aims of the course and to ensure effective focus of the group and faculty on the issues of governance of the regional seas and of the countries bordering their shores.

 

 

Busan, RO Korea — NOWPAP representatives attended the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held from 29 November to 1 December 2011 in Busan, Republic of Korea, in order to learn the recent developments and priorities of major international donors, including in the field of environment.

 

Organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Government of Republic of Korea, this high level forum was concluded with a declaration of Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation.

 

 

Beijing, PR China — The 16th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) was held on 20-22 December 2011 in Beijing, PR China. Representatives from NOWPAP member states, Regional Activity Centers, partners and UNEP participated in the annual meeting which approved the NOWPAP work plan and budget for 2012-2013, including the implementation of NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter. In addition, the meeting adopted the revised Terms of Reference for the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit and the Guidance on improving the quality of NOWPAP technical reports.