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The success of the Pacific Island regional
cooperation on extended continental shelf
delimitation is in no small part reflected in the development
of a regional, inclusive approach to general boundary
delimitation that holds the potential for strengthened
collaboration among participants. The 2011 capacity
building programme included technical and legal support
for the negotiation of the 22 cases of unresolved
boundaries in the region. The inclusion of maritime
boundaries that were not originally foreseen has resulted
in the expansion of the number of countries participating
in the programme, which now totals 13 countries.
9
“The first expanded Pacific Island boundary delimitation
workshop has achieved more in these past two weeks, to
progress the legal establishment of maritime boundaries
in the region, than has been achieved in the past 25 years.”
Statement by Mark Alcock, Project Leader, Law of the Sea and Maritime
Boundary Advice Project, Geoscience Australia, during the workshop held
11-22 July 2011 in Sydney, Australia
Other states that received support in preparing or
finalising their submission document during 2011 include
Madagascar, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh and
Chile. In addition, preliminary discussions were held
with Sierra Leone, Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica, a clear
demonstration of continued demand for the services
provided by the initiative.
i
An anticipated outcome of the UNEP Shelf
Programme is that relevant persons in governments
and other institutions will have acquired sufficient
technical expertise to gather and compile the specific data
on outer shelf limits required for the State’s submission
and to present this in the prescribed format and time.
They should also be able to defend the submission to the
CLCS when the time comes. The ultimate goal (impact) is
that the Commission makes a recommendation on the
Exclusive Economic Zone of
Workshop countries
1. February 2007
2. July 2007
3. February 2008
4. May 2008
5. November 2008
6. February 2009
7. February 2010
8. November 2010
9. July 2011
*
States without entitlement for extended continental shelf that
received technical assistance with mapping and settling other
maritime boundaries
South Paci c workshop participation
2007 to 2011
New
Caledonia
Tonga
Niue*
Federal States of
Micronesia
Nauru* Kiribati
Palau
Kiribati
Kiribati
(Gilbert Is.)
(Phoenix Is.)
(Line Is.)
Papua New Guinea
Cook Islands
Fiji
Tuvalu
Solomon
Islands
Samoa*
Vanuatu
Source: UNEP Shelf Programme
South Pacific workshop participation 2007 to 2011
9. Cook Islands, Kiribati, Federated Sates of Micronesia, Palau, Tonga,
Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Niue, Samoa, Nauru and the
Marshall Islands