International Law lecturer speaks at UN meeting on African Blue Economy

Dr Edwin Egede, Senior Lecturer in International Law & International Relations was recently invited by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Capacity Development Division to speak as a panel member at high level meeting on the African Blue Economy.

The Policy dialogue, which took place in Abidjan, Côte d' Ivoire, looked at the Governance of resources and maritime activities for sustainable development in Africa and brought together government officials from African Union member States, officials of various international organisations, academics, private sector and NGO officials.

The aim of the Policy dialogue was to raise awareness among African Union member States on the urgent need to implement the continental resource governance framework and also the maritime specialised African Union instruments to ensure development, security and safety at sea; to make contributions towards promoting regional and national development of local policy and legal instruments for the implementation of the 2050 AIM Strategy; to facilitate the formulation of policy and specific measures for the development of the blue economy and to help provide capacity-building for African States in this area, taking into account gender issues; to make contributions towards the effective and sustainable incorporation of the African continent into the global framework for the governance of seas and oceans.

Dr. Egede gave a presentation at the Policy dialogue on African Blue Economy and Deep Seabed Mining. His presentation, based on his research, built upon a previous presentation he made at a high profile workshop in May 2017 at Kampala, Uganda, which was organised by the International Seabed Authority and the Republic of Uganda, in partnership with the UNECA, African Minerals Development Centre, Grid Arendal and PEW Charitable Trust, with the support of the African Union Commission.

Dr. Egede commenting on the Policy dialogue said, “It was a fruitful policy dialogue between public and private stakeholders and involved a valuable exchange of ideas between different sectors that would no doubt foster policy coherence in the implementation of the African Blue Economy.”