January 2015: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Global Ocean Forum (GOF) have announced the selection of 14 leaders for the first Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) Regional Leaders Program. The program aims to strengthen the capacity of leaders from small island developing States (SIDS) and developing countries to more effectively participate in global and regional ABNJ processes and to address issues in marine ABNJ.

The ABNJ Regional Leaders 2015 are: Steven Ambabi, Namibia; Mohamed Badal, Mauritius; Abu Bamba, Cote d’Ivoire, Abidjan Convention; Michael Donoghue, South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Samoa; Tevita Mangisi, Tonga, UN Permanent Mission; Rose Mtui, Tanzania; Andrei Polejack, Brazil; Seema Parkash, Singapore; Rodney Quatre, Seychelles; Amrika Singh, Barbados and Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Secretariat; Hendra Siry, Indonesia, Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Secretariat; Raymon Van Anrooij, Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC); Zheng Miaozhuang, China; and Zheng Yuanjie, Singapore.

The program will hold its first session from 14-22 January 2015 at UN Headquarters in New York, US, with participation from the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) and other organizations. Participants will discuss, inter alia: global and regional ABNJ policy frameworks that address ABNJ issues; ABNJ policy issues across all sectors, with a focus on biodiversity conservation and fisheries; and sustainable use of marine resources in ABNJ. In addition, participants will observe negotiations at a meeting of the ‘Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction’ (BBNJ).

The FAO/GOF project, ‘Strengthening Global Capacity to Effectively Manage ABNJ,’ is organizing the Regional Leaders Program with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). [Common Oceans Announcement] [Common Oceans Website] [Strengthening Global Capacity to Effectively Manage ABNJ Project]