IMO and the Republic of Korea have signed agreements to boost Official Development Assistance funding for RegLitter, to tackle marine litter in East Asia and to develop and pilot test a tailor-made web-based e-navigation service in the Philippines.
The agreement was signed 17 July by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim and Mr. Jonguk Hong, Director General of Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Republic of Korea, during a sideline event of the IMO Council 129th session.
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The RegLitter project will aim to tackle sea-based marine plastic litter through capacity building and policy and institutional reforms at national level, leading to regional cooperation in East Asia. This regional project will build on the work implemented under the ongoing Norway-IMO-FAO Glolitter Project, which is building a global foundation to address this important issue. The project will run for approximately four to five years.
IMO's Department for Partnerships and Projects will be coordinating the implementation of the project, in close cooperation with IMO's Technical Cooperation Division and with technical backstopping from Marine Environment Division, Maritime Safety Division and Legal Division.
This represents the first time that IMO is able to access dedicated large ODA funding of any of the OECD countries and marks a milestone in IMO's efforts to mobilise ODA resources.
"We do hope that more ODA agencies will take note of this development and this innovative IMO-Republic of Korea partnership model and view maritime as an important sector where development assistance can make meaningful impacts for the people and the planet," said Jose Matheickal, Director of IMO's Department of Partnerships and Projects (DPP).
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