Expansion of United Nations-Nippon Foundation Capacity-building Activities in Ocean Affairs, Law of Sea
Following the announcement made on behalf of the Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, at the UN Ocean Conference in July 2022, the United Nations-Nippon Foundation (UNNF) capacity-building programmes implemented by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (the Division) are set to expand. Commencing in August 2024, a new three-month Ocean Governance Fellowship for Small Island Developing States will be launched to complement the existing UNNF Fellowship and Strategic Needs Fellowship.
The Ocean Governance Fellowship for Small Island Developing States is designed for Government officials, with the primary goal of strengthening their capacity to effectively implement, in the face of the special circumstance of small island developing States, international legal and governance frameworks, including in particular the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and related instruments, including the recently adopted Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). The Fellowship also aims to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Sustainable Development Goal 14, and is tailored to the specific capacity needs of small island developing States. In doing so, it is intended to support the development of sustainable blue economies, while strengthening resilience to and tackling the triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, including ocean plastic), as related to the ocean.
The Fellowship will consist of a three-month training programme at the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, based on a highly customized curriculum addressing the specific challenges highlighted by applicants and their nominating authority. Further information and details regarding the Fellowship conditions, required qualifications, curriculum and application package are provided on the Fellowship’s webpage: www.un.org/oceancapacity/content/unnf-ocean-governance-fellowship-sids.
Background
The project between the United Nations and the Nippon Foundation was established in 2004. Since then, the Division has implemented a number of fellowship programmes, generously funded by the Foundation, including the UNNF Fellowship, the Strategic Needs Fellowship (formerly the Critical Needs Fellowship), the Thematic Fellowship (no longer implemented), as well as the Alumni Programme and a training programme to reinforce capacity in the context of the intergovernmental conference on an international legally binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Training). Over nearly 20 years of collaboration, collectively, these programmes have benefited 251 Fellows from 92 countries and 181 trainees under the BBNJ training programme.
The United Nations-Nippon Foundation fellowship programmes have been consistently recognized by the General Assembly as making an important contribution to human resources development for developing States in the field of ocean affairs and the law of the sea and related disciplines.
In addition to the upcoming Ocean Governance Fellowship for Small Island Developing States, the Division currently implements the UNNF Fellowship, the Strategic Needs Fellowship and the Alumni Programme. For more information on the United Nations-Nippon Foundation capacity-building programmes, please visit: The United Nations – Nippon Foundation Capacity-Building Programmes.