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 Voluntary fund to enable the participation of the members of the Commission from developing countries in the work of the Commission by meeting their costs of participation (travel expenses and daily subsistence allowance)

General information

    The Chairman of the Commission requested the President of the ninth Meeting of States Parties which took place in May 1999 (SPLOS/38) to propose to the States Parties to consider the issue of financing the participation of members of the Commission from developing countries in the work of the Commission, on the understanding that the Convention clearly stated that States Parties should defray the costs of the members of the Commission which they had nominated. A note by the Secretariat (SPLOS/39) outlining the modalities for establishing a trust fund and examples of trust funds administered by the Secretary-General was submitted to the Meeting. General support was expressed by delegations for the idea of a voluntary fund, but the Meeting felt that it needed detailed information from the Commission regarding actual needs and financial estimates for each session. That information was provided to the tenth Meeting by the Secretariat in CLCS/16.

    The tenth Meeting of States Parties held in May 2000, decided, based upon the request of the Commission, to recommend to the General Assembly the establishment of a voluntary fund to enable the participation of the members of the Commission from developing countries in the work of the Commission by meeting their costs of participation (travel expenses and daily subsistence allowance), notwithstanding the provision of Annex II to the Convention regarding the duty of nominating States to defray the expenses of the Commission members whom they have nominated (SPLOS/58).

    In October 2000, at its 55th session, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to establish a voluntary fund for the purpose of defraying the cost of participation of the members of the Commission from developing States in the meetings of the Commission (resolution 55/7).

    In December 2013, at its 69th Session, the General Assembly requested that the Secretary-General explore options for providing medical insurance coverage to members of the Commission from developing States, whose participation may be facilitated through the voluntary trust fund for the participation of the members of the Commission from developing States in the meetings of the Commission, while in performance of Commission duties at United Nations Headquarters.

    In December 2014, at its 69th Session, the General Assembly authorized the Secretary-General, as an interim measure and subject to the availability of funds in the trust fund established pursuant to resolution 55/7 for facilitating the participation of members of the Commission from developing States in the meetings of the Commission, following the allocation of the required funds to cover the costs of travel and daily subsistence allowance of the members of the Commission from developing States for the sessions of the Commission in 2015, to reimburse those members for the costs of medical travel insurance from that trust fund on a session-by-session basis and subject to a reasonable limit that the Secretary-General shall determine, based on the information regarding medical travel insurance available to him.

    The Trust fund is administered by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs.