Website: N/A
Established: 2011
Type: Network of regional organization
Membership: 36 Member States
Contact: Ibukun Adewumi, Secretariat, IOC (IOC Africa Sub Commission)
GOOS Africa is administered through the IOC Sub-Commission for Africa and the Adjacent Island States. Sub-Commission officers are defacto officers of GOOS Africa, and represent the African Member States in their relations with the GOOS Regional Alliances.
Governance
The Bureau of the Sub-Commission comprises the Chair and three Vice-Chairs elected by the Sub-Commission, and shall serve in accordance with the Guidelines for the Structure and Responsibilities of the Subsidiary Bodies of the Commission. A proposed Regional Ocean Observing Framework System (ROOFS-Africa) to better coordinate ocean observing and operational oceanography across African nations is currently under development.
Goals
- Effective management of coastal environments, controlling pollution and safeguarding human health.
- Support for the expanding economic activities in the coastal and offshore zones.
- Protection of the growing coastal populations, especially in the Great Harbour Cities of Africa.
- Effective management of living marine resources.
- Mitigation of natural disasters and extreme events and the impacts of climate change.
Location of GOOS Africa
History
1.1 The Global Oceanographic Observing System for SICOM, 1998
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Workshop Report No. 152 gives an account of the the Global Ocean Observing System for SICOM which was held in Maputo in Mozambique from July 18th to 25th, 1998.
1.2 GOOS Status Report No. 81, 1999
In 1999, the GOOS Africa Co-ordinating Committee was acknowledged in the GOOS Status Report No. 81. The report mentions the workshop in Maputo and recalls that inter alia some planning proposals had begun concerning the following GOOS-Africa Coordinating Committee’s top priorities.
1.3. The Twentieth Session of the Assembly, 1999
In 1999, the Twentieth Session of the Assembly, held in Paris from June 29th to July 9th, adopted Resolution XX-20, XX-21 and XX-22 relating respectively to the Pan-African Conference on Sustainable Integrated Coastal Management (PACSICOM), Priority Africa and Ocean data and information network for Africa. It is key to note that the IOC instructs the Executive Secretary IOC to “undertake, in consultation with African Members States and the GOOS-Africa Co- ordinating Committee, the necessary action as recommended by the PACSICOM resolutions, to convene a workshop for drafting a project proposal for the implementation of GOOS in Africa under the leadership of that Co-ordinating Committee and the Scientific and Technical Research Commission (STRC) of the Organization of the African Unity”.
1.4. The Twenty-first Session of the Assembly, 2001
In 2001, the Twenty-first Session of the Assembly was held in Paris, from July 3rd to 13th July. The Assembly noted that relationships were already developing between GOOS and the Regional Seas programmes, especially in the Mediterranean (via MedGOOS), the North-East Asian region (via NEAR-GOOS), and in Africa (via GOOS-AFRICA as a follow-up to the PACSICOM meeting in Maputo in July 1998).
1.5. I-GOOS-VI Sixth Session, 2003
In 2003, the IOC-WMO-UNEP Intergovernmental Committee for the Global Ocean Observing System (I-GOOS-VI) Sixth Session (GOOS Report No. 130) was held in Paris from March 10th to 14th. In the Annex IX “Action sheet on recommendations and resolutions of I-GOOS-VI”, it is recommended that the IOC Assembly 22nd Assembly endorse the GOOS Regional Policy (see Annex 2.2.) and accept and approve the “following GRAs as members of the GOOS family: EuroGOOS, MedGOOS, GOOS-AFRICA, PI-GOOS, IOGOOS and US-GOOS”.
1.6. The Twenty-second Session of the Assembly, 2003
In 2003, the IOC Twenty-second Session of the Assembly was held in Paris from June 24th to July 2nd. The Assembly endorsed the regional GOOS Policy as given in Annex IV of the I-GOOS-VI Executive Summary report. The Assembly also noted the creation of GRAs as a mechanism for the promotion and implementation of GOOS when appropriate at the regional level, and recognised six GRAs in particular, namely EuroGOOS, MedGOOS, GOOS–AFRICA, Pacific Islands GOOS, Indian Ocean GOOS, and US GOOS.