Commonwealth Ocean Governance Capacity Building Preparation of a ‘How To’ Manuals Series

Working with the Economic and Legal Section (ELS) of the Commonwealth Secretariat the purpose of this consultancy was to prepare guidance documents to assist decision makers within Commonwealth Member Governments prepare and implement ocean governance and policy. The primary audience for these documents are non-technical decision makers, i.e., politicians and senior officials with relevant Government ministries and departments. The overall objective of the documents are to highlight the potential opportunities that Commonwealth Member Countries may realise through better management of their marine space and to set out the steps that such countries should take in order to attain these opportunities. The outcomes of the document are to:

• Identify the specific needs of commonwealth member Countries and the challenges they face in managing their marine resources;
• Identify examples of good practices that can be consolidated and included in the guidelines;
• Help define structured and systematic procedures for the development and implementation of integrated ocean governance arrangements for member Countries.