At the Fifteenth Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in 2015, African Ministers of Environment agreed to develop a governance strategy, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and regional seas conventions, on oceans and seas in Africa for the effective management of the region’s shared maritime resources and call for a regional conference to address the matter. Further decisions were made at the subsequent meetings of the Conference on this issue.
At the 7th special session of AMCEN in Nairobi in September 2018, member states urged African states to promote the growth and development of the regional ocean sector in a sustainable blue economy pathway and support the mainstreaming of aquatic biodiversity in all productive sectors with a view to sustainably harnessing the blue economy.
In response to those decisions, the United Nations Environment Programme, as the secretariat for AMCEN, carried out background studies to assist member States in developing an African Ocean Governance Strategy. Against those background studies, a meeting to discuss the development of the Strategy took place at the UN Environment headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, from 29 to 30 November 2018.
For more information contact:
Secretariat: Robert Wabunoha
E-mail: robert.wabunoha[at]un.org Tel: +254(0)721943177
Logistics support: Catherine Mwangi
E-mail: catherine.mwangi[at]un.org Tel: +254 20 7624997
