Conference

1. At its Twenty-ninth Session in November 1997, the FAO Conference, by Resolution 18/97, instituted the Margarita Liz�rraga Medal to be awarded biennially by the Conference upon the proposal of the Council to a person or organization that has served with distinction in the application of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

2. The Medal pays tribute to Dr. Margarita Saucedo Liz�rraga, Senior Fishery Liaison Officer for her decisive role in promoting the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, for her productive work in the field of fisheries for almost forty years, for her great dedication to FAO and for her strong commitment towards fostering the promotion of the fisheries sector, especially in developing countries.

3. The Selection Committee for the award is chaired by the Director-General and composed of the Assistant Director-General, Fisheries Department, and the Bureau of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI).

4. There were seven nominations for the 1998/1999 biennium. These were short listed by the Secretariat on the basis of the criteria agreed by the Selection Committee.

The criteria were:

• Outstanding, practical and an hands-on contribution to the application of the Code
• The output should be tangible
• Be a sustained effort and not a one off initiative, and
• Have the potential for a snow-ball/catalytic effect.

5. The Selection Committee unanimously agreed to award the Margarita Liz�rraga Medal to the non-governmental organization (NGO) National Fisheries Solidarity (NAFSO) of Sri Lanka.

6. NAFSO was selected for its outstanding and practical initiative in promoting and disseminating the Code. In particular, this NGO has taken very practical steps to translate the Code into the Sinhala language, to print it and distribute it. In addition, to ensure the application of the Code, NAFSO organized a series of meetings in fishing communities thereby promoting a better understanding of various aspects of the Code among poor, small scale fishing communities. Without this work, it is highly likely that these largely illiterate fishing communities would not have had access to the Code.

SUGGESTED ACTION BY THE COUNCIL

7. The Council is invited to endorse the nomination of the NGO National Fisheries Solidarity and recommend that the Medal be presented to the Head of the Delegation of Sri Lanka by the Director-General as part of the proceedings of the Thirtieth Session of the Conference.