Directory of national sources of training, advice and expertise and technological services

Background information

General Assembly resolution 57/141 of 12 December 2002 encouraged States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 that are in a position to do so to make every effort to make submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf regarding the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles within the time period established by the Convention, taking into account the decision of the eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Convention (SPLOS/72).

In the Capacity-Building section of resolution 57/141, paragraph 40, the Assembly “request[ed] the Secretary-General to compile in a uniform format a directory of sources of training, advice and expertise and technological services, including relevant institutions and other sources of technical information and practice, which may contribute to the preparation of such submissions, to be available to Member States and to be posted on the web site of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, bearing in mind that an entry in the directory would not imply official endorsement by the Secretariat of the United Nations of any such sources.” The full text of the resolution can be found on the web site of the Division at www.un.org/Depts/los.

In February 2003, the Division requested Governments to provide, as soon as possible, a list of such sources of training, advice and expertise and technological services, including relevant institutions and other sources of technical information and practice, which may contribute to the preparation of submissions to the Commission by developing States, including the assessment of the nature of the continental shelf of a coastal State made in the form of a desktop study, and the mapping of the outer limits of its continental shelf. (Full text in English, French and Spanish of note verbale 03-00081 of 18 February 2003).

To facilitate the compilation of a directory of sources, the Governments were invited to communicate the information to the Division in electronic format, with the data structured as follows:

·       NAME OF THE SOURCE OF EXPERTISE (INSTITUTION/ COMPANY/ EXPERT)

·       CONTACT NAME, IF APPLICABLE

·       ADDRESS

·       TELEPHONE

·       FAX

·       E-MAIL

·       WEB SITE

·       BRIEF OVERVIEW OF COMPETENCIES (limit to 300 characters)

·       ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND NOTES, IF NECESSARY (limit to 300 characters)

Additional reference material could be provided in form of pdf (Adobe Acrobat^® portable document format) files.

In December 2003, the Division informed the States that as at that date, ten countries had responded to the request contained in note verbale 03-00081, namely Chile, India, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, New Zealand, the Republic of Congo, the Russian Federation and Spain. The Division also circulated copies of relevant information that had been provided and requested again all States that had not responded to the previous request of 18 February 2003 to identify sources of training, advice and expertise and technological services as soon as possible.

The Directory (in pdf) reflects all information received as at 20 October 2011.