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History - Objectives - Structure

History

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO was founded in 1960 on basis of the recognition that

"the oceans, covering some seventy percent of the earth's surface, exert a profound influence on mankind and even on all forms of life on Earth... In order to properly interpret the full value of the oceans to mankind, they must be studied from many points of view. While pioneering research and new ideas usually come from individuals and small groups, many aspects of oceanic investigations present far too formidable a task to be undertaken by any one nation or even a few nations."

What did our founding fathers and mothers have in mind when they created the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in 1960-1961?

Q: Who is this?
A: Dr A. Bruun (Denmark)
Dr Bruun was elected Chairman of the IOC during the First Session of the Commission in October 1961.

Who were our founding fathers and mothers? What did they consider to be the objectives of the IOC? Who was the first Chairman of the IOC and who was the first IOC Executive Secretary?

Read all about it in the Report of the First Session of the IOC Assembly.

Download the PDF version (169 KB)

Here is the first page of the Report:

I. INTRODUCTION

1. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of Unesco at its eleventh session, and in conformity with the recommenda tion of the Intergovernmental Conference on Oceanic Research (Copenhagen 11- 16 July 1960) met for its first session in Paris at Unesco Headquarters from 19 to 27 October 1961.

2. By the end of the session, a total of 40 States had become members of the Commission. These are: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Federal Republic of Germany, France, Ghana, India, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Mauritania, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Rumania, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Republic, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Viet-Nam. Of these States only four, Chile, Ivory Coast, Pakistan and Rumania, did not send delegations to the first session of the Commission. Rumania was represented at the meeting by the Permanent Delegate to Unesco in the capacity of an observer. Observers from the following States not mem-bers of the IOC were also present: Ceylon, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland and South Africa.

3. Representatives and observers of the following intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations also attended the session: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), World Health Organization (WHO), Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), International Association of Physical Oceanography (IAPO), International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), Special Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), Permanent Association of Navigational Congresses. International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB), International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission.

4. The session was opened by the Acting Director- General of Unesco, Mr. René Maheu, who welcomed the delegates on behalf of Unesco (see Annex D and stressed the importance of the newly created Commission as an instrument for solving those problems of oceanography which require concerted international action.

5. The Commission received the following cable from the Soviet Oceanographic Expedition aboard the research vessel "Vityaz":

"ON BEHALF OF MEMBERS SOVIET OCEANOGRAPHIC EXPEDITION ON BOARD VITYAZ IN CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN I AM SENDING MY BEST WISHES TO PARTICIPANTS OF CONFERENCE AND WISH EVERY SUCCESS IN CREATING INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR STUDYING OCEANS DIRECTED TOWARDS GOOD OF ALL MANKIND

Professor KORT"

This cable was announced to the plenary meeting and the answering cable was approved and sent to the Chief of the Expedition, Professor V.G. Kort.

Structure

The IOC is composed of its Member States, an Assembly, an Executive Council and a Secretariat. The Secretariat is based in Paris, France. Additionally the IOC has a number of Subsidiary Bodies.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is composed of an Assembly, an Executive Council and a Secretariat. Additional to this, the organization has also established a number of Subsidiary Bodies.

The formal texts of the Commission are:

Statutes (revised in November 1999) English, French, Russian and Spanish
Rules of Procedure (revised in July 2001) English, French, Russian and Spanish

Each Member State has one seat in the Assembly, which meets once every two years. The Assembly is the principal organ of the Commission which make all decisions to accomplish the objectives of IOC. The IOC currently has 129 Member States.

In order to enable the Member States to provide guidance to the Secretariat for the implementation of the activities of the Commission during the Assembly's inter-sessional period, an Executive Council meets every year. This body is elected by the Assembly and shall encompass a maximum of 40 Member States (including those of the Member States represented by the Officers). The Executive Council reports to the Assembly.

The Secretariat is the executive arm of the organization. It is headed by an Executive Secretary who is elected by the Assembly and appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO. The Secretariat ensures the implementation of activities decided upon by the Assembly.

The Officers of the Commission are elected in their personnal capacity at each session of the Assembly. They are nominated from the 5 electoral groups that ensure equitable geographical distribution at elections.

Current IOC Officers (2007-2009)

View a photo of IOC current officers

b.sims@unesco.org