15th NOWPAP IGM in Moscow

The 15th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) was held on 16-18 November 2010 in Moscow, Russia.  Representatives of all NOWPAP member states participated in the meeting which was attended also by the directors of the four NOWPAP Regional Activity Centres (RACs).  The meeting participants reviewed the progress of NOWPAP implementation for the period of 2009-2010 and discussed the ways for future development of NOWPAP.  Along with the report of UNEP Executive Director and reports of the four RAC directors, the meeting approved the following documents: •   The revised NOWPAP Resources Mobilization Strategy; •   The revised NOWPAP Public Awareness Building Strategy; •   The revised Terms of Reference for NOWPAP RCU, reflecting its coordinating role in resource mobilization and in raising awareness activities. NOWPAP member states discussed thoroughly the NOWPAP Medium-term Strategy and decided to further develop it into a document which will be used to prioritize NOWPAP activities for the next biennium work plan of 2012-13 and beyond.  In addition, the meeting discussed a proposal on improving the quality of NOWPAP technical reports, which will be further revisited at the next IGM.   With regard to the sustainability of the NOWPAP Trust Fund, member states were encouraged to make their utmost efforts to increase their annual contributions and the Russian Federation has announced its pledge to do so since 2011.   NOWPAP partners, PICES and IOC WESTPAC, provided written statements for the meeting on cooperation, while the former sent a representative to deliver the statement at the meeting.  The next 16th NOWPAP IGM meeting will take place in China in 2011.