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 Margarita Lizárraga Award
2004-2005

 At its Twenty-ninth session in November 1997, the FAO Conference decided, by Resolution 18/97, that a “Margarita Lizárraga Medal” 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 of FAO.  The Award pays tribute to Ms Margarita Lizárraga, a Mexican national and an officer in the Fisheries Department at the time of her passing away in 1997, 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, as well as for her decisive role in promoting the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

 Nominations are therefore now invited for the Margarita Lizárraga Medal Award for the biennium 2004-2005.

 The general terms and conditions of the Award are as follows:

 Nature of the recognition:

 The Award will be in the form of a commemorative metallic medal, which will be inscribed with the name of the person or organization selected, as well as a scroll describing the achievements of the recipient. In addition, a round trip fare to Rome and Daily Subsistence Allowance, at approved UN rates, will be paid to the Award recipient. The charges for these expenses will be borne by a Trust Fund set up for the Margarita Lizárraga Medal.

 Eligibility:

 Any person or organization that has served with distinction in the application of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

 Basic criteria:

 The basic criteria, ranked by order of importance, for the selection process, as established in 1999 by the Selection Committee and applied since then, are:

 -          an outstanding, practical hands-on contribution to the application of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries;

 -          the output should be tangible;

 -          the activity should be a sustained effort, and not a one–off initiative; and

 -          the output should have the potential for a snowball or catalytic effect.

 Submission of nominations:

Proposals for nominations should be submitted by 15 December 2004. A person or organization may propose a person or organization that has diligently applied the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Submissions must be made on the specific electronic nomination form, which can be obtained from the FAO Website (Fisheries Department - Margarita Lizárraga Medal), to the Secretary, Committee on Fisheries.

Margarita Lizárraga Medal Screening Committee:

An ad hoc Screening Committee chaired by the Assistant Director-General, FAO Fisheries Department, and comprising  representatives of the FAO technical divisions, namely the Directors of Fishery Policy and Planning, Fishery Resources and Fishery Industries Divisions, as well as the Legal Counsel, with the Secretary of the Committee on Fisheries acting as Secretary, will review the list of nominations submitted to it by the Award Secretariat, and establish a short-list of three nominations for the Award, including an assessment of such nominations.

Margarita Lizárraga Selection Committee:

The Award winner will be chosen by a Committee consisting of the members of the bureau of the Committee on Fisheries (i.e. the Chairperson, the first Vice-Chairperson and the four other Vice-Chairpersons of the Committee), the Assistant Director-General, Fisheries Department, and the Director-General, acting as Chairman of the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee will meet during the Twenty-sixth Session of the Committee on Fisheries in March 2005.  At that sitting, the Selection Committee will make its choice on the basis of the list of candidates, including the respective assessments, drawn up by the Screening Committee.

Final Selection:

The Council will propose to the Conference the name of the person or organization to whom the Award should be conferred.

Conferral of Award:

The Award for 2004-2005 will be presented by the Director-General at a special ceremony during the Thirty-third Session of the FAO Conference in November 2005.

 

Jacques Diouf
Director-General

Winners of the Margarita Lizárraga Medal

 2003

The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)

The Margarita Lizárraga Medal for 2002-2003 was presented by the Director-General of FAO to the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) based in India, on 29 November 2003, during the Thirty-second Session of FAO Conference. ICSF is an International NGO working on issues that concern fishworkers all over the world. The medal was presented to ICSF in recognition of its comprehensive, sustainable and catalytic initiatives in support of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, through workshops, outreach and advocacy activities, as well as by mobilizing grassroots support and enhancing human capacity building, particularly in developing countries.

2001

The Canadian Responsible Fisheries Board and its Secretariat

The Canadian Responsible Fisheries Board and its Secretariat was selected for its unprecedented grassroot approach to the development of a national Code of Conduct based on the FAO Code of Conduct, which is resulting in responsible fisheries management and new partnerships between industry and the Government in the fisheries sector.

1999

National Fisheries Solidarity (NAFSO) of Sri Lanka

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.