Wednesday 3 july 2019

Information for the Press N°: 272/19

On Wednesday 3 July, the Assembly of Member Countries of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) renewed its Board of Directors and appointed an Argentine national, Captain (Naval) Ariel H. Troisi, as its new President. After the elections held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Captain Ariel Troisi was appointed to lead the IOC during the 2019-2021 term, thus becoming the second Argentine national to be appointed to that position in the history of the organization, which was presided over by Javier Valladares between 2007 and 2011.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission is an intergovernmental organization created in 1960 within the framework of UNESCO and it now consists of 150 Member States. Argentina is a founding member and it has actively participated in the organization since its beginning. The IOC seeks to promote international cooperation and coordinate programmes in the fields of research, services and skills creation to learn more about nature and the resources of oceans and coastal areas, and apply that knowledge to improve management, sustainable development, the protection of the marine environment and the decision-making processes of the Member States. In addition, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the IOC is the competent international organization in the fields of Marine Scientific Research and the Transfer of Marine Technology.

In the next two years, the IOC will face important challenges and opportunities such as the preparation and implementation of the United Nations International Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, as well as contributions in the fields of conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in zones beyond national jurisdiction, and studies on climate change and ocean acidification, among others.

Captain Ariel Troisi's appointment as President of the IOC is an acknowledgement of Argentina's commitment and leadership in the field as a result of decades of work in different areas of interest of the IOC.