(NEWS) WMU at the UN Ocean Conference 2022

July

2022

WMU at the UN Ocean Conference 2022

From 27 June to 1 July, the second United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) took place in Lisbon, Portugal with the overarching theme being "Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions".

At UNOC 2022, the World Maritime University (WMU) organized and delivered three well attended joint side events on the following themes: ‘Empowering Women: An Ocean of Opportunities in Science, Policy and Blue Economy’; ‘Empowering Women for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development’; and ‘Educating Ocean and Maritime Leaders: A Legacy of Excellence and Future Plans at the World Maritime University’.

These events were delivered in partnership with: the International Maritime Organization, the International Seabed Authority, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), the Organization Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Canada, Government of Antigua and Barbuda, Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Swedish Agency of Marine and Water Management (SwAM), Sweden; the City of Malmö, Sweden, the High Seas Alliance, the Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, The Nippon Foundation, Ocean Policy Research Institute - The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Leading Women for the Ocean, Sailors for the Sea Japan and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Japan.

The events highlighted the research, capacity-building and outreach programmes underway at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute.
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Side Event on the DFO-WMU Empowering Women Programme - an IOC-UNESCO endorsed Decade Action

On 27 June, WMU hosted the official side event on ‘Empowering Women for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development’, to advocate increasing women’s representation and participation in ocean science to deliver “the science we need for the ocean we want.” The Empowering Women Programme is primarily funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Canada with support from The Nippon Foundation, the Programme is delivered by the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute and has been endorsed by IOC-UNESCO as a Decade Action (Programme).

The Side Event showcased new and compelling research results by the Post-Doctoral Fellow and two PhD candidates under the Programme regarding the participation and equality for women within selected international organizations, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), and higher education marine science institutes in Kenya. The Event featured high-level interventions on raising awareness and called for concrete actions to promote women’s participation and representation in marine science and other ocean sectors. The event concluded with Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia Henry, WMU President, launching the Programme’s Global Stakeholder Consultative Forum that is open to all institutions and individuals that are supporting the work of ocean-related inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations.

The event was delivered in hybrid format, both on site in Lisbon and with a global virtual audience drawing close to 200 registered participants over 50 countries representing a wide range of sectors as Governments, Academia, Industry, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations (IGO), non-governmental organizations (NGO), Civil Societies, as well as Philanthropic Foundations. The gender representation of the registered speakers and audience was approximately 74% Female and 23% Male (3% preferred not to answer).

For more information, click here.

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Side Event on Educating Ocean & Maritime Leaders

On 27 June, WMU hosted the official side event on ‘Educating Ocean and Maritime Leaders: A Legacy of Excellence and Future Plans at the World Maritime University’. The aim was to contribute to the thematic interactive dialogues topic 8 of the UN Ocean Conference, namely leveraging interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water) and other SDGs including 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) 15 (Life on Land) and 17 (Partnerships) towards the implementation of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The session was opened by WMU President, Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, who reflected on the nearly forty years of education and research undertaken by WMU. With 5,634 alumni from 171 countries and territories, WMU has fostered a global network of leaders in the maritime and ocean sectors. The audience and participants were presented with the research and capacity-building work ongoing at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute on the topics of ocean governance, land-to-ocean interconnection, marine debris, Sargassum, Marine Spatial Planning in the Eastern Caribbean, as well as technological regulations in the ocean industry context. The interventions were moderated by David Robin, Programme Director - Ocean Governance & Fisheries, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission.

The event was delivered by WMU in hybrid format, both on site in Lisbon as well as with a global virtual audience drawing nearly 100 registered participants from over 35 countries and a wide range of sectors including Governments, Academia, Industry, UN entities and intergovernmental organizations (IGO), non-governmental organizations (NGO), Civil Societies, as well as Philanthropic Foundations. The gender representation of the speakers and audience was approximately 51% Female and 47% Male (2% preferred not to answer).

For more information, click here.

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Joint Side Event on Empowering Women - An Ocean of Opportunities

WMU partnered with leading agencies to host an official side event titled ‘Empowering Women: An Ocean of Opportunities in Science, Policy and Blue Economy’ that took place in the conference Blue Zone on 28 June. The primary co-sponsors of the Side Event were the World Maritime University–Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute; the International Maritime Organization; the International Seabed Authority; the Government of Antigua and Barbuda; Sailors for the Sea Japan; and Leading Women for the Ocean.

The aim of the Side Event was to contribute to the thematic interactive dialogues topic 8 of the UN Ocean Conference, namely leveraging interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goal 14 Life Below Water and Goal 5 Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls.

For more information, click here.

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About the UN Ocean Conference

The United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) was first held in 2017 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, co-hosted by Sweden and Fiji. This year, the second conference, UNOC 2022, took place in Lisbon, Portugal from 27 June to 1 July co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal. The 2022 Conference included high-level government talks with representatives of 120 countries — including 24 heads of state — as well as sanctioned side events, and 6,000 total participants from UN Agencies, international organizations, NGOs, and civil society to address many of the deep-rooted problems and concerns relating to the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean. Discussions included major structural transformations and common shared solutions that are anchored in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) as well as much needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action. By the end of UNOC 2022, France and Costa Rica offered to co-host the next UN Ocean Conference in 2025.

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About the World Maritime University and the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

The World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden is established within the framework of the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. The mission of WMU is to be the world centre of excellence in postgraduate maritime and oceans education, professional training and research, while building global capacity and promoting sustainable development. WMU’s vision is to inspire leadership and innovation for a sustainable maritime and oceans future. WMU is an organization by and for the international maritime community and is committed to the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute was inaugurated in May 2018 and made possible through generous support from The Nippon Foundation of Japan, the Governments of Sweden, Canada, and Germany, as well as the City of Malmö. The vision of the Institute is to act as an independent focal point for the ocean science-policy-law-industry-society interface where policy makers, the scientific community, regulators, industry actors, academics, and representatives of civil society meet to discuss how best to manage and use ocean spaces and their resources in accordance with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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