IMO's Technical Cooperation Committee Meets to Upgrade 10-Year Strategy

A streamlined strategy outlining IMO’s goals and plans for capacity building, resource mobilization and partnerships will be a key focus as IMO’s Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC) meets this week (June 24-28) in London.

TCC oversees IMO’s capacity-development program and the implementation of projects aligned with the Strategic Directions of IMO and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Opening the meeting on Monday, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said: “My vision is for a strengthened IMO technical cooperation program which is responsive to the needs of our Member States, especially for the developing countries and in particular Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The Technical Cooperation Committee is at the heart of this.

“This new technical cooperation narrative, which we should shape together here in the Committee, must be built on achievements to date, and focus on detailed needs identification, thematic programming, regional implementation, stronger partnerships, good donor relations, and results-based management. Women empowerment must be embedded in all our technical cooperation activities and interventions.

“To support this vision, I have already taken steps to restructure the Secretariat, creating the Technical Cooperation and Implementation Division (TCID), which brings together the former Technical Cooperation Division, the Department of Member State Audit and Implementation Support, and the Department of Partnerships and Projects. By uniting these branches, I have created a structure that supports more coherence between our technical cooperation planning and programming, the implementation of the ITCP and long-term projects, utilising, as much as possible, the findings of audit results, and facilitated by effective resource mobilization.”

The Committee will consider a draft comprehensive strategy for the period 2021 to 2030, which sets out a cohesive, streamlined approach to technical cooperation that delivers more value for Member States.  

It combines three current strategies into one, including: (i) Capacity-Building Decade 2021-2030 Strategy; (iii) Long-term Resource Mobilization Strategy; and (iii) Revised Financing and partnership arrangements for an effective and sustainable integrated technical cooperation program.

The Committee established a Working Group to examine the draft comprehensive strategy in detail and report back to the Committee by the end of the week.  

Other key items on the Committee’s agenda include:

• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

• Technical Cooperation Planning and Reporting: Annual Report for 2023

• Resource mobilization and partnerships

• Regional presence and coordination

• IMO Member State Audit Scheme

• Evaluation of activities by the Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) for the period 2020-2023

• Capacity-building: Strengthening the impact of women in the maritime sector

• Global maritime training institutions: World Maritime University, IMO International Maritime Law Institute and other arrangements

The meeting is chaired by Dwight C.R. Gardiner of Antigua and Barbuda, supported by Vice-Chair, Anays Berrocal of Panama.