26 November 2012: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has transmitted to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) the report of the Joint Inspection Unit’s evaluation of UN-Oceans. The report examines the inter-agency mechanism, maps out the activities of its members in the last five years on oceans and coastal issues, and includes recommendations.

According to the report, 83% of the activities of UN-Oceans members are in line with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while 55% are in line with the goals of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). It notes that members’ activities focus on: investment; capacity building; technical assistance; and tools for sustainable development.

The Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) report formulates five recommendations, namely that: UNGA recommend that a national focal point on oceans and related issues be established in each country; the UN Secretary-General, as Chair of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), request UN-Oceans to revise its terms of reference, paying particular attention to avoiding possible overlaps with existing mechanisms and taking into consideration the relevant outcomes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20); members of UN-Oceans mobilize the necessary resources to establish a small dedicated secretariat to work on UN-Oceans; the UN Secretary-General, as CEB Chair, direct the High-level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) to develop operational guidelines for UN-Oceans’ decision-making, membership, meetings and task force arrangements, and clarify reporting and other governance issues; and UNGA request the UN Secretary-General, as CEB Chair, to ensure that UN-Oceans, UN-Energy and UN-Water institutionalize their coordination efforts under HLCP. [Publication: Evaluation of UN-Oceans (A/67/400/Add.1)]