UN grants CIMAG special consultative status

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has formally granted Special Consultative Status to the Centre for International Maritime Affairs, Ghana (CIMAG).

The granting of the Consultative Status to CIMAG followed ECOSOC’s adoption of the recommendation of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at its Coordination and Management meeting of June 2023.

CIMAG’s status now entitles it to designate official representatives to the United Nations Headquarters in New York and the United Nations offices in Geneva and Vienna.

Speaking in an interview with Eye on Port, the Executive Director of CIMAG, Albert Derrick Fiatui said the granting of Special Consultative Status will allow CIMAG to register for and participate in events, conferences and activities of the United Nations, as well as sit as observers at public meetings of the ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies.

“So when you are an NGO like CIMAG and you are granted this status, it puts you at that place where you have access to the United Nations workings itself and also the various organs of the United Nations. It is not something that should be taken lightly because a lot of people or organizations attempt and they are not able to get it,” he explained.

He said CIMAG will continue to work assiduously with other agencies in promoting the ocean’s role in sustainable development and protecting the marine environment.

“The work we have been doing with agencies so far has been credible. The major work that we are interested in is in the promotion of the maritime sector, the blue economy, the oceans and also, the environment most especially. When we have meetings with the United Nations environment program for instance, we make it clear to them that one of our core areas is Marine and coastal biodiversity protection and that has to do with environmental protection and they are very much interested and happy that we have proposals currently that we are pushing to engage in some coastal protection projects,” he stated.