Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization

 

ARTICLE VII
The Executive Committee

1. The Executive Committee shall consist of six members who shall be the heads
of the departments responsible for fisheries management and the heads of the
departments responsible for fisheries research in each of the three Contracting
Parties, or their authorized representatives.

2. No session of the Executive Committee shall take place unless all of the
Contracting Parties are represented.

3. At its first regular session, the Executive Committee shall select a Chairman
from among the heads of the departments responsible for fisheries management. He
shall hold office until the next regular session and thereafter the chairmanship
of the Executive Committee shall rotate among the heads of the departments
responsible for fisheries management in accordance with the alphabetical orderof the names of the Contracting Parties. The Executive Committee shall adopt its
own Rules of Procedure.

4. The Executive Committee shall hold one regular annual session and such other
special sessions as it may determine. A special session shall be called upon
request by any two Contracting Parties. The Executive Secretary of the
Organization shall inform the Contracting Parties of the date and place of any
session.

5. All decisions and recommendations of the Executive Committee shall be adopted
by consensus. The Council of Ministers may establish rules whereby the Executive
Committee may be consulted by correspondence or any rapid means of written
communication, if matters of exceptional urgency requiring action by the
Executive Committee arise between two of its sessions.

6. The Executive Committee shall:

a) review the activities of the Organization;

b) make recommendations to the Council of Ministers on any matter relevant to
the functions of the Council;

c) give guidance to the Executive Secretary on the implementation of policy and
decisions taken by the Council of Ministers;

d) establish such sub-committees or working groups as it may deem appropriate in
accordance with Article IV.3;

e) carry out any other functions entrusted to it by this Convention, or
delegated to it by the Council of Ministers pursuant to Article VI.2.

7. At each session the Executive Committee shall adopt a report, which shall be
submitted to the Council of Ministers at its next session.

ARTICLE VIII
The committees, sub-committees and working groups

1. There shall be a Fisheries Management Committee and a Scientific Committee,
whose functions shall be to advise the Executive Committee on matters within
their areas of competence.

2. The Fisheries Management Committee shall be constituted by the heads
of the departments responsible for fisheries management of the three Contracting
Parties or their authorized representatives.

3. The Scientific Committee shall be constituted by the heads of the departments
responsible for fisheries research of the three Contracting Parties or their
authorized representatives.

4. The Executive Committee shall determine from time to time the number and
qualifications of other persons who may be members of the Fisheries Management
and Scientific Committees.
5. The functions of the Fisheries Management Committee will be to:

a) review stock assessment, monitoring, harvest and enforcement data received
and compiled by the Secretariat;

b) identify emerging problems in fisheries in terms for example of species,
populations, over-harvest, primary production, habitat concerns and general
ecosystem health, with a view to ensuring their long term sustainability;

c) develop objectives for constituent fish communities;

d) consider effects of proposed or accidental introductions and means for their
management, control or eradication;

e) develop partnerships among the Contracting Parties of the Organization, their
agencies and local communities;

f) ensure the conservation of indigenous species, including the use of refuge
areas and sanctuary lakes;

g) develop management policies based on the biological, economic, social and
environmental needs;

h) recommend measures for the management and conservation of the living
resources of the Lake.

6. The functions of the Scientific Committee will be to:

a) identify requirements for applied and innovative research pertinent to the
management of the living resources of Lake Victoria, including without
limitation, the fields of fisheries biology, limnology, hydrology, botany,
statistics, human and veterinary medicine, water pollution, toxicology and
socio-economics;

b) develop and recommend to the Executive Committee research projects on Lake
Victoria, to be carried out by agencies of the Contracting Parties,
universities, regional and International Organizations ;

c) review the results of research programmes carried out on Lake Victoria;

d) develop and recommend common, harmonized and standardized data collection and
statistical methods for biological, social, economic and environmental data,
including the cross-calibration of scientific instruments and provide close
supervision of their collection and compilation;

e) ensure members of the scientific community, the fishing industry and
the public, likely to have an interest in a particular project under
consideration, are made aware of the deliberations of the Scientific Committee
and are given an opportunity to comment upon it.

7. Each committee shall have its own Rules of Procedure. These Rules of
Procedure shall be adopted by the Executive Committee. The committees shall meet
as and when the Executive Committee shall determine. The Chairmanship of the
committees will rotate among the heads of the departments responsible for
fisheries management and for fisheries research of the Contracting Parties
respectively in alphabetical order of the names of the countries.

8. Except as otherwise provided by their own Rules of Procedure, decisions of
the committees shall be taken by consensus.

9. The Fisheries Management and Scientific Committees may propose to the
Executive Committee the establishment of such sub-committees or working groups
as they consider necessary in accordance with Article IV.3 and VII.6(d).

10. After any meeting, the committees, sub-committees and working groups shall
submit a report on their work to the Executive Committee. The report shall
contain such recommendations as these bodies deem appropriate.

ARTICLE IX
The Permanent Secretariat

1. The Organization shall have a Permanent Secretariat headed by an Executive
Secretary who shall be appointed by the Council of Ministers for a period of
five years on such conditions as it may determine. The mandate of the Executive
Secretary will be renewable once. The position of the Executive Secretary shall
be subject to rotation among the three countries.

2. The Executive Secretary shall be the chief executive and legal representative
of the Organization. He shall direct the work of the Organization in accordance
with the policy and decisions adopted by the Council of Ministers and under the
guidance of the Executive Committee.

3. The Executive Secretary shall, through the Executive Committee, submit to the
Council of Ministers at each regular session:

a) a report on the work of the Organization, as well as the audited accounts;
and

b) a draft programme of work and a draft budget of the Organization.

4. The Executive Secretary shall organize the sessions of the Council of
Ministers and the Executive Committee, and meetings of all other bodies of the
Organization. He shall provide the secretariat for such sessions and meetings
and shall participate in them.

5. The Executive Secretary shall be assisted by a Deputy Executive Secretary
appointed by the Council of Ministers. The mandate of the Deputy Executive
Secretary shall be of five years, renewable once. The Deputy Executive Secretary
shall be of a nationality different from that of the Executive Secretary.

6. If and for so long as the Executive Secretary is prevented from
performing his duties, the Deputy Executive Secretary shall have the powers and
duties entrusted to the Executive Secretary under this Convention.

7. The professional staff of the Organization shall be appointed by the
Executive Secretary on the proposal of a Selection Committee. The Selection
Committee will be constituted by the members of the Executive Committee. The
General Service Staff will be recruited and appointed by the Executive
Secretary.

8. All staff members of the Organization shall be appointed in accordance with
the policy, general standards and guidelines laid down by the Council of
Ministers. In appointing the staff of the Organization, the Executive Secretary
shall ensure the highest standards of efficiency, professional competence and
integrity.

9. The staff of the Organization, wherever they may be posted, shall be
responsible to the Executive Secretary. They shall not seek or receive
instructions with regard to the performance of their duties from any authority
external to the Organization.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization, International Organizations.