Global Priorities — All Strategic Objectives — Global Partnerships — Cooperation with Other International Bodies

 

​Cooperation with Other International Bodies

Sustainability

The second ICAO meeting on the Sustainable Development of Air Transport in Africa and the second ICAO meeting on Air Cargo Development in Africa were held in March 2017 in Accra and in June 2017 in Addis Ababa, respectively. The Secretariat has continued to update the portal — State Air Transport Action Plan System (SATAPS) — developed in 2015 to assist States in the region to monitor and implement the Declaration on the Development of Air Cargo in Africa, and the Declaration on the Sustainable Development of Air Transport in Africa adopted by the two respective meetings.

Economic development

ICAO has established partnerships with the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling (ICM) of the University of Warsaw.

Security and facilitation

The United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2309 (2016) adopted on 22 September 2016 reaffirms the role of ICAO as the United Nations agency responsible for developing international aviation security Standards, monitoring their implementation by States and assisting States in complying with these Standards. The operative paragraphs of resolution 2309 (2016) are closely aligned with ICAO’s strategies and policies, aviation security conventions, Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), guidance material and programmes, including the 2010 Declaration on Aviation Security and Resolution A39-18 — Consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies related to aviation security. Considering the recognized leadership of ICAO and the unity of purpose shared by the UN Security Council and ICAO for the enhancement of international civil aviation security, the actions taken by ICAO in response to UNSC resolution 2309 (2016) are important for assuring consonance and coherence in facilitating the achievement of results.

The ICAO Secretariat continues to collaborate with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) and is currently working on the establishment of an arrangement between the two organizations to solidify the terms of collaboration. The ICAO Secretariat continues to assist the CTED through participation in country on-site visits to evaluate UN States’ implementation of civil aviation counter-terrorism related resolutions, and to determine the efficacy of the States’ aviation statutes, regulations and policies. CTED continues to support ICAO’s efforts to ensure the implementation of Advanced Passenger Information (API) systems remains at the forefront of States’ priorities.

On 15 June 2017, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT) was established through the adoption of General Assembly resolution 71/291. The ICAO Secretariat will continue to work with relevant OCT Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force entities to ensure enhanced coordination and to strengthen the delivery of counter-terrorism capacity-building assistance. This includes targeted capacity development; training and other necessary resources, such as technical assistance; and technology transfers and programmes.

In cooperation with ICAO, the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) held a Special Meeting on Terrorist Threats to Civil Aviation on 7 July 2017. This discussion was preceded by a series of technical sessions on 6 July.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convened in New York on 27 September 2017. A summary of the discussions of the CTC Special Meeting held in July 2017 was provided by the Secretary General of ICAO and the Chair of the Committee. The Secretary General also briefed the UNSC on the status of the Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP) and actions taken under ICAO leadership since the adoption of UNSC resolution 2309 (2016). During this event, the Secretary General called for political support towards implementation of the GASeP and its Roadmap.

In the area of air cargo security and facilitation, ICAO continued its commitment to work with international bodies such as the WCO and the UPU, as well as industry partners. In 2017, the third joint ICAO-WCO workshop on Air Cargo Security and Facilitation was delivered in Geneva, with participants from aviation security and customs authorities from 18 States. Cooperation with WCO further continued on the topics of Pre-Loading Advance Cargo Information (PLACI) and mutual recognition possibilities of the Customs Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) system and Regulated Agents/Known Consignors. The draft terms of reference and membership for the ICAO-UPU Contact Committee were discussed at the AVSEC Panel, and dates for the initial meeting of this committee were set for early 2018.

ICAO is also coordinating with the World Economic Forum (WEF), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airports Council International (ACI) regarding their initiatives with regard to Digital Travel Credentials, which is also managed by the New Technologies Working Group (NTWG).

Under the Canada-funded project “Strengthening Border Control Management in the Caribbean Region”, a guide on border control management (BCM) was developed with the support of a group of experts in charge of overseeing the content. This group was composed of experts from the CTED, European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX), International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Organization for Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Prevention and management of public health events

Transmission of communicable diseases by aviation is a risk to public health, the health of aviation personnel, sustainable aviation operations, economic stability and tourism. This was evident from the outbreaks of Zika, Plague, Yellow Fever and Ebola in 2017. To mitigate the international spread of diseases and to safeguard international air traffic, ICAO continues to advance the implementation of International Health Regulations (IHR) and ICAO public-health-related Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) through collaboration with:

In 2017 ICAO developed an application to provide key information to our stakeholders (WHO, CDC, aviation stakeholders and medical stakeholders) on models of disease spreading through air transport during outbreaks.

The UN Ebola Multi-Partner Trust Fund, a collaboration between ICAO, WHO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was successfully concluded in July 2017.