SPC Geoscience Division

Home

Pacific Community Maritime Boundaries Officer selected for International Leadership Program

Friday, 19 August 2016 12:02
E-mail Print PDF

maritime

17 August 2016, Suva

The Pacific Community’s Emily Artack is representing Fiji in an international delegation participating in the prestigious International Visitors Leadership Programme on Law of the Sea and Maritime Security in the United States.

The three-week programme, which starts this week in Washington D.C., will include exploring how customary law applies in the South China Sea and the Pacific, assessing the roles of international stakeholders, observing interagency coordination and approaches to maritime security operations, and discussing multilateral policy and cooperative efforts in South China Sea territorial and maritime disputes.

The international programme will also take the 12-country delegation to Baltimore, New York, Florida, Seattle and Honolulu to meet with professional counterparts and explore various perspectives on the impact of the Law of the Sea Convention.

“This visit is an exciting opportunity for me to meet with representatives from the various organisations based in the United States and learn more about their approaches to law of the sea and maritime security operations, as well as learn more about the role of various organisations based in the cities we will be visiting and I will establish close networks between them and the Pacific countries,” Ms Artack said.

Each year over 4,500 participants from all over the world are selected by U.S. embassies to travel to the United States through the U.S. Department of States premier professionals exchange program.

In her professional capacity as SPC’s Maritime Boundaries Technical Officer, Ms Artack has actively assisted Pacific Island countries to negotiate 14 maritime agreements and treaties in the region and to formalise their maritime boundaries and deposit this information with the United Nations, with a recent example being the Republic of Marshall Islands who officially declared their maritime borders to the United Nations in April this year.

“This in an incredible opportunity for Emily and we congratulate her on this well deserved assignment,” Pacific Community Director-General, Dr Colin Tukuitonga said.

“Ms Artack is a valuable member of our team, and is also a recipient of SPC’s Jimmie Rodgers Emerging Leader Award which recognises the significant contribution and leadership she has demonstrated in the realisation of SPC’s vision and mission in serving our Pacific members,” Dr Tukuitonga added.

The International Visitors Leadership Program will run from 15 August to 3 September this year.

Media contact:
Lauren Robinson   SPC Media Relations, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or +679 337 9250 [Appeler : +679 337 9250]

 

Last Updated on Friday, 19 August 2016 12:06  

Newsflash

Deep Sea Minerals – At the 2009 Pacific Island Forum meeting, Leaders agreed a number of key priority areas for progressing the Pacific Plan including: “the development of a regional framework for deep sea minerals that shall be used by Pacific ACP States to formulate national legal instruments for the governance and administration of marine mineral resources”. Under Key Result Area 1 of the SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals (DSM) Project, a Regional Legislative and Regulatory Framework (RLRF) for Deep Sea Minerals Exploration and Exploitation has been developed to ensure (i) environmental protection, (ii) countries are prepared to meaningfully engage in this new industry, and (iii) long term sustainable benefits for the Pacific Islands Region.

The inaugural DSM Project regional workshop that was held in Nadi Fiji in June 2011 was an opportunity to bring together deep sea mineral experts around the world, representatives of Pacific ACP States as well as private sector and civil society to discuss various deep sea mineral issues and collectively identify priority areas and agree on a concerted way forward for the region.

Following the inaugural workshop, a Terms of Reference (ToR) for the development of the RLRF was prepared but it was not until the completion of the November 2011 International Workshop focusing on the environmental management needs for deep sea mineral activities that was organised by the International Seabed Authority (‘ISA’) in collaboration with the SPC through the DSM Project and the Government of Fiji that the RLRF was subsequently drafted.