New Capacity-Building Projects for Ocean GovernanceThe Nippon Foundation and UN DOALOS Join Hands to Achieve SDGs

On June 7 (New York time), at an official function of the United Nations Ocean Conference, The Nippon Foundation announced the launch of new human resource capacity-building projects on ocean governance with the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UN DOALOS).

The high-level ocean conference is being held June 5-9, 2017, to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, one of 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted last September. The conference is also slated to adopt a “Call for Action,” consisting of targets and actions for the implementation of SDG 14.

“Call for Action” stresses the importance of support for developing nations and island nations, as well as support for women. The NF-UNDOALOS Capacity-Building Projects are part of this effort. The Nippon Foundation will contribute US$1 million annually over the next three years (to 2020), to train more than 200 fellows to become the next generation of leaders drafting and forming future ocean policies for their respective countries.

The projects will be conducted in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP; based in New York) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO; based in Italy), to give participants opportunities to gain deeper knowledge in areas including marine pollution and marine resource management. In addition, the projects will train individuals from island nations and developing nations in the practical skills needed to respond to pressing ocean issues facing their countries, like ocean acidification and global warming.

Additional short training courses, to be held twice annually at UN Headquarters to support states in the intergovernmental Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) process, are also being considered to reinforce the knowledge and capacity necessary for informed national participation. The courses will cover legal, policy, technical/technological, and scientific aspects of BBNJ.

The Nippon Foundation has been engaged in “ocean capacity-building” since the 1980s. Over the past 30 years, we have forged partnerships with international organizations, national governments, NGOs, and the world’s leading research institutions and universities, and trained more than 1,200 people from 140 countries. The NF-UN DOALOS capacity-building projects collaborate with universities and research institutions in 24 countries. To date, 133 fellows from 78 countries have completed the program.

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Contact information

The Nippon Foundation
Hideo Fukuda / Yumi Sakuragi, +81-3-6229-5131
Communication Department
pr@ps.nippon-foundation.or.jp