A message to the IOC Community
Dear Friends,
At this difficult time, please allow me to address you from the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. Above all, on behalf of IOC, let me wish you and your loved ones good health as we go through this pandemic.
IOC’s current priority is to contribute, as we can, to preventing the spread of the virus everywhere where our staff are located around the globe, to help health systems and heroic medical staff to cope with the pandemic, and to support vulnerable people.
For that we are working remotely, all over the world. Many meetings will now be conducted in a virtual environment. In continuing our work, we recognize significant constraints placed on each of us, our families, and on our co-workers.
Nevertheless, our work and planning continue. The initial Draft Implementation Plan for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development is now available for the first peer review. For news on Decade, please see http://oceandecade.org. IOC Chair Ariel Troisi is considering how to best convene the 53rd Session IOC Executive Council. We will approach Member States soon. IOC real time services, like tsunami warnings, remain operational. Two recent cases of potentially damaging tsunami have been recently detected. Please follow the IOC news via our social media channels or via our website (http://ioc.unesco.org).
A billion people around the world are confined to their homes. Patients require oxygen. Let us think for a moment about them and thank the ocean for giving us more than half of the oxygen we breathe. Please inspire and be inspired by thinking about the ocean. “One Planet, One Ocean.” While observing social distancing, we are becoming more united and caring about others. And this is why we will overcome the crisis, hopefully sooner than later.
Once again, please take care and stay healthy,
Vladimir Ryabinin
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For more information, please contact:
Ms Rejane Herve, Outreach and Partnerships: r.herve@unesco.org
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