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  • 08 Dec 2014

Jakarta, Indonesia

The Meeting was opened and closed by the Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, His Excellency Marcos da Cruz, and attended by all the CT6 delegations, all Partners, Brunei Darussalam as observer, and several potential partners and collaborators. The current chair of the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) was represented by Ms. Kay Kalim from Papua New Guinea (PNG), Mr. Lourenço Borges Fontes from Timor-Leste, and Mr. Manuel D. Gerochi from the Philippines, who chaired the sessions. Mr. Toni Ruchimat from Indonesia and Dato’ Mohd Azhar bin Hj. Yahaya from Malaysia co-chaired some sessions. The Vice-Chair I of the CTI-CFF Interim Regional Secretariat (IRS), Mr. M. Eko Rudianto, led the facilitation and provided assistance throughout the Meeting.

Aside from confirmation on the entry into force of the Agreement on the Establishment of CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat and the appointment of an Executive Director, several important outcomes were produced by SOM-10. Regarding membership cooperation with other organizations, the meeting acknowledged progress made by Brunei Darussalam in complying with the requirements for application as a new member of CTI-CFF, advised the development of cooperation agreements on specific programs and activities with FAO, and approved the proposed cooperation agreement with SEAFDEC.

It was agreed that the 2nd CTI Local Government Network Forum will be hosted by Papua New Guinea in March 2015, and the 4th CTI Regional Business Forum will be held in Indonesia in April 2015. SOM-10 also recommended exploring the possibility of holding an informal CTI Leaders gathering in the Philippines on the sidelines of APEC 2015. Senior Officials acknowledged the progress of activities by the CTI Women Leaders’ Forum and fishing communities under the Fishers’ Forum. The meeting also requested initial steps to activate the Capacity-Building Working Group and establish the Scientific Advisory Group to commence soon.

On reports by member countries regarding the status of National Plans of Action implementation, Senior Officials acknowledged progress made and encouraged countries to utilize the CTI-CFF Monitoring and Evaluation System in preparing country reports for the next SOM. Partners were requested to clarify support for the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM), Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), and Threatened Species (TS) Working Group’s regional actions and activities. The Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Working Group’s Regional and National Roadmaps for 2014-2015 were endorsed, with recognition that funding to support implementation of the roadmap is approximately US$1.5 million annually.

A decision was also adopted concerning the development of guidelines on the use of CTI-CFF RPOA goals/targets, Coral Triangle geography, and the Coral Triangle brand in securing funding for projects and other fundraising activities. Additionally, the development of the structure and mechanism of the CTI-CFF Fund or Special Fund in the form of a trust or other types of fund was recommended. In line with these decisions, SOM-10 endorsed the establishment of the CTI-CFF business development unit (BDU) to coordinate initiatives and efforts in financial resources and business development.

The meeting graciously endorsed several proposed areas of regional investments to be made by the Government of Australia to support implementation of CTI-CFF RPOA, including support for seascapes activities, regional ecotourism, and small grants, micro-financing, and fellowship programs. These initiatives support CTI-CFF cross-cutting themes and could potentially cover one or more regional goals. SOM-10 also acknowledged the proposal for the development of USAID’s Oceans for Biodiversity Conservation and Food Security Project involving the EAFM Working Group, the CTI Regional Secretariat, National Coordination Committees (NCCs), and relevant development partners and regional organizations.