4 INSTITUTIONAL AND FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

4.1 The NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meetings

24. The Northwest Pacific Action Plan, with its Goals, Objectives and first set of Activities and Tasks, has been set in train by the approval of the first few projects for implementation under the various Activities. The Goals and Objectives are not expected to require significant amendment in the short- or medium-term. However, the Activities may require review from time to time, and their relative priority could change to reflect changes in the regional situation. The Projects will certainly be finite and those surressfiillv will need to he closed and evaluated, and new ones will need to be adooted.
These changes in Activities and the closing of old Projects and adoption of new ones is something which will need to happen regularly - annually, or biennially. The body charged with this review function must be made up of senior representatives of the member States. It is expected that representatives of various regional and international organizations whose aims and interests are in harmony with those of the NOWPAP will also participate in the Intergovernmental Meetings as observers.

25. It was therefore decided that policy guidance and decision-making for the Action Plan will be provided by regular Intergovernmental Meetings. Subsequent to its second meeting, the NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meetings will meet annually in one of the participating countries on a rotational basis and operate according to the terms set forth in Resolution 2.

4.2 Coordination and Implementation

26. The implementation of the Action Plan will comprise a number of projects running in parallel. These projects will be entrusted to national institutions to the extent that the institutions are capable. In this, the institutions will be supported by relevant regional and international organizations, particularly those that are already active in the region. Where necessary, national institutions will be strengthened to enable them to participate effectively in the various projects (see Objective 1). Until such time as national and regional institutions can undertake all activities under the Action Plan, and whenever a particular project so requires, local capabilities will be supplemented by assistance of experts from elsewhere in the region or from outside the region.

27. In view of the multiple projects that are possible and the scattered nature of the various activities, as well as the wide scope of input possible from both within and outside the region, implementation of the Action Plan must be coordinated. A network of participating institutions coordinated by regional activity centres will be established for this purpose.

28. NOWPAP States, with the assistance of UNEP, will work towards the establishment of a Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) to ensure the integrated and well-managed execution from within the Region of projects under the Action Plan.

29. Until such time as an RCU is established and functioning effectively, the member Governments designate UNEP as the organization responsible for the coordination of the implementation of the Action Plan, and invite the Executive Director of UNEP to prepare, in cooperation with the competent international, regional and national organizations, a detailed programme document describing the operational details of projects to be developed on the basis of priorities identified by the member Governments.

4.3 Financial arrangements

30. The activities agreed upon as part of the implementation of the Action Plan will be financed principally by contributions from the Governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations. Direct financial support from UNEP and in-kind contributions from United Nations and other bodies will be made available in the initial stages. However, participating States acknowledge the need for financial commitments on their part and the ratio of members' financial and in-kind contributions to contributions from the United Nations systems will increase until the financing of the action plan is independent of funding from the United Nations system. Nevertheless, United Nations bodies and other international and regional organizations may continue to make contributions, in cash or in kind, to the work being carried out under the action plan.

31. The participating Governments agree to establish a Trust Fund for the Protection and Management of the Coastal and Marine Environment and the Resources of the Northwest Pacific region, to be known as the NOWPAP Trust Fund.

32. The NOWPAP Trust Fund will be contributed to by each of the member States. The frequency of contributions, the overall amount and the individual contribution will be agreed to no later than by the second Intergovernmental Meeting.

33. More specifically, the Terms of Reference of the NOWPAP Trust Fund shall be as follows:

The NOWPAP Trust Fund is established to provide financial support for the implementation of the Action Plan adopted by the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region.

The administration and management of the NOWPAP Trust Fund shall be governed by the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations. It is understood that these rules provide, inter alia, that UNEP shall make a deduction equal to 13 per cent of all expenditures financed from the Trust Fund to defray administrative support costs.

The expenditures of the NOWPAP Trust Fund shall be financed from contributions in accordance with the decisions on financial arrangements adopted by the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region. No expenditure from the NOWPAP Trust Fund shall be made before a minimum of US$ 50,000 has been contributed to the Trust Fund.

All contributions shall be paid in fully convertible United States dollars.

The NOWPAP Trust Fund shall be subject to audit by the United Nations Internal Audit Service.
The Executive Director of UNEP, through his/her reports to the Intergovernmental Meetings, shall report on the status of the Trust Fund.

The Trust Fund shall be established for a period of four years, 1994-1997, and decisions for its extension shall be made by the Intergovernmental Meetings of NOWPAP through the relevant Governing Councils of UNEP.