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Rome, 21 February 2025. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) runs a training programme in Hamburg, Germany, with the support of the Nippon Foundation. For a third year in a row, the Fellows travelled to Rome to visit FAO. The Fellows are part of the 18th edition of the ITLOS programme, which runs yearly, for a nine-month period, and is focused on dispute settlement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Mr Hao Duy Phan, Legal Officer at the Tribunal, accompanied the six Fellows that participated in this year’s visit to FAO., namely: Ms Keneilwe Chakalisa (Botswana), Mr Ibrahim Mohammed (Eritrea), Mr Thulasidhass Perumal (India), Ms Anita Rayegani (Hungary), Mr Yousef Salah (Lybia) and Ms Khawla Wakkaf (Syria).

The visit included a guided tour of FAO HQ, and presentations from the Legal Office, including from the Development Law Service (LEGN) and the General Legal Affairs Service (LEGA), as well as from colleagues of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division (NFI).

The presentations provided an overview of the functions and work of FAO Legal Office,[1] including LEGN and LEGA; international fisheries management and governance,[2] including FAO’s work as the Secretariat of the 2009 Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA); issues of compliance and implementation of the 1993 Agreement to Promote Compliance of International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas[3]; legal perspectives on the ecosystem approach to fisheries and small-scale fisheries,[4] including FAO’s work in implementing the 2014 Voluntary Guideline for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication; FAOLEX and its subsets, highlighting Port-Lex on port State measures, and SSF-LEX on small-scale fisheries,[5] and; the communications and outreach work of LEGN.[6]

The visit offered a valuable opportunity for the Fellows to clarify questions with FAO colleagues in the above areas, and to meet colleagues, including the new Deputy Legal Counsel, and to learn more about the key instruments and tools that support Members in strengthening their policy and legal frameworks for sustainable fisheries.

For information on previous visits, see here (2023) and here (2024). 

Quotations from the Fellows

Ms Keneilwe Chakalisa: “The visit to FAO was quite informative, the presentations were packed and broadened my knowledge about FAO and its work. The hospitality by the staff was exceptional, they made our short stay at FAO worthwhile”.

Ms Anita Rayegani: “The experience at FAO was really inspiring. We were greeted with such warmth, given a tour of the building with its beautiful artistic details, and gained insights on the work of the legal office”.

Mr Thulasidhass Perumal: “The presentations by both LEGA and LEGN of the Legal Office were highly informative and provided valuable insights. I learned about the FAOLEX Database, which I found highly impressive”.

Mr Yousef Salah: “The study visit to FAO HQ was one of the most useful and productive sessions of the ITLOS-Nippon Program”.

Ms Khawla Wakkaf: “During my visit, I had the opportunity to engage in enriching discussions with the Legal Office team, who provided a series of insightful presentations on their work. The presentations were intellectually stimulating and gave me a greater appreciation of the valuable work the Legal Office provides”.

Mr Ibrahim Mohammed: “I found the FAOLEX database to be a repository of comprehensive and valuable information for researchers across various fields of study. Overall, the hospitality and kindness of the individuals we encountered are challenging to capture adequately in a few words.