FIRST REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN MARITIME ASIA

Dili, Timor Leste

November 10, 2017

 

RESOLUTION

 

Transitioning from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

 

The PARTICIPANTS,

 

RECALLING the International Maritime Organization (IMO) strategic and ongoing commitment since 1988 to the integration of women in the maritime sector through the framework of the Organization’s Strategic Plan and its Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP),

 

RECALLING ALSO the guiding principles governing the ITCP, allocating priority, inter alia, to empowering women as key maritime resources,

 

RECALLING FURTHER United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/70/1 Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure that the purpose of the 2030 Agenda is realized and calls upon global partnerships to work together to ensure their implementation,

 

NOTING the Organization’s obligations and responsibilities to implement, through its standard-setting work and its technical cooperation activities, the aims and objectives of the SDGs and its targets, and of the need to mobilize the means required to support with concrete actions the implementation of the 2030 Agenda,

 

NOTING ALSO the Organization’s responsibility to implement, through the framework of the ITCP and capacity-building activities, the goals and objectives of SDG 5 “Achieve gender equity and empower all women and girls”,

 

RECOGNIZING the importance of enhancing channels of communication and information technology for better cooperation and collaboration at the regional level, with a view to advocating gender equity, improving women’s access to maritime training and technology and promoting their advancement to key decision-making levels in the maritime sector,

 

RECOGNIZING ALSO the importance of SDG 17 to “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development” in enhancing the IMO partnership framework for strengthening regional institutional capacities,

 

ACKNOWLEDGING the vital contribution of women in leadership positions in the Asian region in enhancing the harmonized management of safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean seas,

 

Hereby resolve to:

 

1. INVITE IMO Member States in the Asian region to:

• align their national goals with those of the SDGs, notably SDG 5, and generate a symbiosis with the activities of the ITCP with a view to meeting the  challenge of realizing 2030 Agenda;
• work with national agencies responsible for gender matters so that maritime specific SDG targets are integrated into the national planning, monitoring and resource allocation programmes;
• encourage equal access and protection of women at all levels of maritime education, training and research and to strengthen the national mechanisms for the employment of women in the maritime sector;
• facilitate the development and funding of training modalities for women managers, including on-the-job attachments with national maritime administrations, to accelerate the transfer of knowledge and to enable female officials to gain practical experience in technical and maritime administration processes;
• introduce mentorship programmes within the maritime sector, a cost-neutral mechanism for encouraging retention and development of women officials at entry level and middle management;
• nominate women professionals in IMO training events, fellowships and entry to the World Maritime University (WMU), the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), and the International Maritime Safety, Security and Environment Academy (IMSSEA);
• encourage and support the establishment of a national “Women in Maritime Association” in their respective jurisdiction with a view to making it a partner in achieving SDG targets;

2. ENCOURAGE the maritime industry and its stakeholders to develop and strengthen gender-neutral operational frameworks, which support access of women to employment opportunities, career advancement and mobility towards the highest level, based on qualifications and experience.

 

3. URGE the IMO to support the WIMA ASIA “Framework of Strategy” which is attached to this Resolution and to take the necessary action towards actualization of its Work Plan for 2018-2019.