Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Doc 7600/8, Standing Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization Doc 10140, Assembly Resolutions in Force (as of 4 October 2019) Appendix

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The amendment to Article 50 a) of the Convention adopted on 12 March 1971, increasing the membership of the Council to thirty, came into force on 16 January 1973 and the Council convened an extraordinary session of the Assembly to fill the three additional seats, one State being elected in each of the three parts.

• An election shall be held at the first meeting of the Assembly and thereafter every three years, and the members of the Council so elected shall hold office until the next following election."

• The obligations of Council Member States are defined by Resolution A4-1, adopted by the Assembly in 1950: "A Contracting State giving notice, in accordance with Rule 45* of the Rules of Procedure for this Assembly, of its desire to stand for election to the Council is understood to have indicated its intention, if elected, to appoint and support full-time representation at the Headquarters of the Organization to ensure the participation of Council Member States in the work of the Organization."

• Since their election, all the present members of the Council have participated in its work.

• It is expected that States elected to the Council at the 41st Session of the Assembly will take the necessary steps to ensure that they will be represented at the Council meetings to be held immediately after the Assembly and that their representation will be established at Headquarters by the time the Council and its committees reconvene in October 2022.

• Although the provisions of the Standing Rules of Procedure of the Assembly relating to the election of the Council were modified in 1962, the following basic rules have been applied ever since the Organization came into being: (i) the election is held in three parts1, with these parts corresponding to the States described in Article 50 b), (ii) before every election the Assembly decides the maximum number of States to be elected in each part, (iii) the candidate decides in which part or parts to seek election — a candidate unsuccessful in the first part may be a candidate in the second, and a candidate unsuccessful in the second may be a candidate in the third, (iv) voting in each part of the election is by secret ballot and a majority of the votes cast is required for election.

• When the membership of the Council was twenty-one, the Assembly decided that the maximum number of States to be elected in the three parts of the election should be eight, seven and six respectively.

• Adoption, on 16 October 1974, of an amendment to Article 50 a) of the Convention increasing the membership of the Council to thirty-three came into force on 15 February 1980.

• The 39th Session of the Assembly in 2016 adopted the Protocol relating to the amendment to the Convention, thereby increasing the membership of the Commission to twenty-one but the required number of ratifications has not yet been reached to bring this into force.

• In addition to meeting as a whole, the Council has established a number of standing committees.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• COMMISSION Meetings Rooms ASSEMBLY HALL ASSEMBLY HALL ASSEMBLY HALL CR3 CR3 CR3 AM 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 TUE R3, 6, 7, 8 27.9.22 PM Edward Warner Award AM 10, R10 WED AM 9, 8 28.9.22 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, PM 16, 17, 18 53, 54, 55, 56 AM 29, 30, 31 40, 41 THU 29.9.22 PM 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 AM 32, 33 42, 43 FRI 30.9.22 PM R29, R30, R31 34, 35, 36 AM 5, 9, 8 SAT 1.10.22 PM 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28 37, 38, 39 SUN 2.10.22 R44, R45, R46, R47, R48, R49, AM 24, 25, 26, 27 R50, R51, R52, R53, R54, R55, MON R56 3.10.22 PM R16, R17, R18 AM R32, R33 R40, R41, R42, R43 TUE 4.10.22 PM 5, 9, 8 AM R11, R12, R13, R14, R15 WED 5.10.22 PM R21, R22, R23, R28 R34, R35, R36, R37, R38, R39 R24, R25, R26, R27, R19, AM R20 THU 6.10.22 PM 9, 8 AM 9, 8 FRI 7.10.22 PM 9

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Priority Outcome 5: Increase cooperation and support: In an effort to maintain its core mission of providing aviation security assistance and capacity-building support to ICAO Member States, the Secretariat has adapted its operations by focussing on the virtual delivery of much of its aviation security training programme since the onset of the pandemic.

• To support implementation at the national level, during 2020 and 2021, ICAO has delivered 12 Risk Management Workshops to 144 participants from 29 Member States through the Implementation Support and Development – Security (ISD-SEC) Programme.

• Following the request by the 39th Session of the Assembly, the Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP) was approved in 2017 with the objective of assisting Member States, ICAO and other stakeholders in enhancing the effectiveness of a global aviation security through a set of priority outcomes, priority actions and aspirational targets.

• The evaluation confirmed that GASeP has been a useful and relevant framework to advance aviation security and helped to raise the profile of aviation security at the political level.

• Priority Outcome 2: Develop security culture and human capability: ICAO undertook a series of activities, including: the official launch of the Year of Security Culture (YOSC) during the 2020 Global Aviation Security Symposium and the implementation of a communication campaign to promote a robust security culture in aviation throughout 2021, the development of the ICAO security culture website1, which is maintained as a permanent resource and updated accordingly with tools and materials for use by States, the delivery of training and assistance activities, and the convening of related meetings, seminars, and conferences.

• Other activities carried out include: comprehensive and targeted AVSEC assistance and training funded by the AVSEC/FAL voluntary fund, development of needs assessments, continuous implementation of the Aviation Security Improvement Plans (ASIPs) for States in-need, development of security culture products, and updating the ICAO Aviation Security Assistance and Capacity- Building Strategy with enhanced focus on the GASeP.

• During its Thirty-first meeting, the Aviation Security Panel recognized that the GASeP roadmap and its associated Priority Actions and the requirements of Annex 17 were not fully aligned, and considered possible ways to better align them, in order to continue to work towards meeting the aspirational targets.

• From 8 to 10 September 2021, AVSEC2021, titled AVSEC: Business Not As Usual, highlighted the importance of innovation as a driving force to find new ways of implementing security measures after the pandemic, and to contribute to civil aviation’s recovery, in line with GASeP’s priority outcome Improve Technological Resources and Foster Innovation.

• Each Regional Office holds audit data relating to their accredited States, along with the USAP-CMA schedule, and is working with States to identify assistance and capacity-building opportunities.

• ICAO ensures the regular dissemination of the Aviation Security Global Risk Context Statement (Doc 10108) to help guide the conduct of risk assessments by States.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Doc 10140, Assembly Resolutions in Force (as of 4 October 2019 Appendix

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The Council, at the fifth meeting of its 224th Session, considered the appointment of the External Auditor of ICAO for the financial years 2023, 2024 and 2025 and approved the reappointment of the President of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) (Switzerland) as External Auditor for a further three years, subject to the confirmation of the 41st Session of the Assembly.

• The Council, at the eighth meeting of its 217th Session, approved the appointment of the President of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) (Switzerland) as the External Auditor of ICAO for the accounts of the financial years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

• In a previous session (176th), the Council had approved that the services of the External Auditor were limited to a fixed term of three years with the possibility of one three-year extension.

• Article XIII of the Financial Regulations provides that the Council shall appoint an External Auditor, subject to confirmation by the Assembly.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, in addition to supporting ICAO actions to assist Member States in responding to this crisis and to prepare for an effective global response and recovery, the Secretariat moved to a rolling twelve-month schedule, and replaced postponed on-site audits with documentation-based audits.

• At its 40th Session, the ICAO Assembly endorsed a set of 26 recommendations and requested that the Council direct the Secretary General to implement these improvements aimed at ensuring consistent interpretation of Annex 17 — Security Standards, utilizing a more operational focus to the USAP CMA programme, addressing serious deficiencies in a timely manner and applying a risk-based approach to audit prioritization, thus ensuring effective reporting of Member States’ risk-based and outcomes-focused compliance with relevant security objectives (Assembly Resolution A40-11, Appendix D refers).

• The ICAO Assembly, during its 39th Session (Assembly Resolution A39-18, Appendix E refers), requested the Secretariat to review the scope and methodology of the USAP, in consultation with Member States, to ensure that it provides reliable information regarding the effective implementation of aviation security measures on the ground, and that the methodology takes into consideration a risk-based approach for the implementation of aviation security measures.

• The audit programmes also provide much-needed assistance in the form of recommendations to guide States in their efforts to improve safety and security oversight systems.

• Nevertheless, the results of both audit programmes demonstrate that a number of States continue to experience difficulties in meeting their obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation and its Annexes, necessitating continued monitoring and assistance from ICAO and its partners.

• The ICAO Assembly, during its 40th Session (Assembly Resolution A40-13 refers), further directed the Secretary General to implement organizational improvements necessary to successfully manage the changes brought about by the long-term evolution of the programme, in line with the recommendations of the Group of Experts for a USOAP CMA Structured Review (GEUSR) as agreed by the Council and of the Thirteenth Air Navigation Conference.

• Launched in 1999, the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) transitioned to a Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) in January 2013, evolving into a more evidence- based, risk-informed and result-oriented programme to determine on a universal basis the effectiveness and sustainability of States’ safety oversight systems.

• To support its continuous evolution, the ICAO Assembly, during its 39th Session, recommended that ICAO undertake a review of the programme’s methodology, processes and tools to give Member States an opportunity to provide user feedback, thereby enabling ICAO to plan improvements (Doc 10071, Assembly 39th Session — Technical Commission Report refers).

• ICAO’s safety and security audit programmes play a vital role in providing objective and independent assessments of Member States’ capacity for aviation safety and security oversight as well as the sustainability of their systems.

• In this context, the continued engagement of States in the audit programmes demonstrates the global aviation community’s commitment to continued improvement and full implementation of ICAO Standards.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• ICAO has been working to strengthen mechanisms to further support regional cooperation through different programmes and activities that are directly or indirectly related to regional cooperation: RSOO and RAIO Cooperative Platforms, which facilitate the exchange of experiences and mutual support, the Global Aviation Safety Oversight System (GASOS), an assessment and recognition mechanism for RSOOs and RAIOs, and Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership (ASIAP), the framework used to coordinate efforts for the provision of assistance to States and for sharing and prioritizing assistance needs.

• The Joint ICAO/EASA Strengthening Regional Cooperation Conference, held on 20 January 2022, pursuant to the recommendations of the HLCC 2021, also concluded that while States remain the primary supporters for the continued operation of regional initiatives, the inclusion of additional stakeholders, such as industry, is critical for their sustainability.

• Neighbouring States with similar aviation challenges, activities and common cultural aspects have come together to establish regional organizations with the knowledge that cooperation can help them achieve their safety obligations through economies of scale, exchange of information and regulatory harmonization.

• Considering the new programmes and activities developed by ICAO to support regional cooperation since the Swaziland Forum in 2017, and HLCC Recommendation 4/1 (g), it is necessary for ICAO to update its Policy on Regional Cooperation.

• Given the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced by all stakeholders, including States, RSOOs and ICAO, it is essential to explore alternative ways to continue the strengthening of safety oversight capabilities of the regional organizations.

• Despite the continuous development of regional cooperation, some of these regional organizations still face specific challenges such as lack of financial and human resources and the necessary legal frameworks that prevent them from providing the valuable and necessary assistance to their Member States.

• As a result, continued support from ICAO, its Member States and industry is needed, in order to continue to strengthen these regional initiatives.

• It is therefore critical that ICAO continues to provide the necessary support and guidance to help strengthen these regional cooperation initiatives.

• This resolution endorsed the implementation and further development of GASOS to help strengthen, assess and support RSOOs, RAIOs and Cooperative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programme COSCAPs with the goal of assisting Member States in improving safety oversight, and accident and incident investigation.

• ASIAP’s main priority is to promote coordination and cooperation amongst key stakeholders to further advance aviation safety and implementation assistance capacity in the aviation community.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• As per the pertinent KPI in the Business Plan 2023–2025, the Assembly is invited to urge all Member States to join the PKD and to request Member States participating in the PKD to upload all information necessary for full authentication of their eMRTDs into the ICAO PKD, in line with ICAO Annex 9 Standard 3.9.2, and to make full use of the data contained therein, given the importance of full use to allow for contactless processing of passengers, increased technology and process innovation in facilitation and increased robustness to future challenges.

• The Assembly is therefore invited to support the ICAO PKD according to the following priorities for the next triennium: assurance of uninterrupted PKD operations and maintenance of the integrity of the system, expansion of the activities of the PKD to exchange additional certificates, empowering of private sector parties to use PKD data to benefit States and aviation stakeholders, improving use of the PKD and compliance with ICAO eMRTD standards and specifications through the Data Quality Coach program, outreach activities and cooperation with the TAG/TRIP and its subgroups, and assuring readiness for renewal of the existing PKD operational contract to ensure continued operation and cost-effective evolution of the system moving forward.

• In order to support the dissemination of public key material necessary for authentication of health proofs (in conformance with the Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) recommendations and guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO)), and given that the WHO guidance indicates that health proofs should be issued based on Public Key Infrastructure that leverages existing capabilities like the ICAO PKD, the PKD Board has examined the implementation of a new health branch in the PKD.

• The Assembly is also invited to endorse the following as priorities, pending the conclusion of financial viability based on current financial models or attainment of additional resources: implementation of a new health branch in the ICAO PKD to support dissemination of public key material associated with PKI-based health proofs and thereby better assure global interoperability, and enhancement of the implementation capabilities to adapt or improve services in response to external challenges and demands, in particular through use of in-house development resources.

• The PKD has become an increasingly important component of global eMRTD infrastructure over the past years as more States have begun issuing ePassports (more than 145 States are now issuing ePassports), eVisas (the European Union has mandated issuance of eVisas using the VDS format in 2022) and health proofs based on the ICAO VDS-NC specifications and as States begin to consider dematerialization of the passport booklet through issuance of the DTC.

• While this work proceeds, a new ICAO Health Master List has been established based on a novel service delivery model involving partnership with INCERT, the Luxembourg State Agency responsible for critical IT infrastructure, allowing for rapid rollout of the new solution at no cost to ICAO or to Member States.

• Several presentations have been delivered at meetings of the ICAO New Technologies Working Group of the TAG/TRIP in order to assure continued alignment between specification development and PKD operational implementation.

• This has resulted in the evolution of the PKD and its related framework in the period since the 40th Session of the ICAO Assembly, as described in Sections 2 and 3 of this paper, as well as substantial outreach to assure recognition of the system’s value, as described in Section 4.

• On this basis, ICAO established the Public Key Directory (PKD) in 2007 in order to share public key certificates between States.

• Developments in the PKD were highlighted to the Council in informal briefings held on 11 May 2020 (on the new ICAO Master List) and on 26 January 2022 (on the private sector use pilot project).

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The 16th ICAO TRIP Symposium (TRIP 2021) initially planned in 2020 was held virtually from 25 to 26 May 2021, under the theme “Game-changing Technologies Driving Seamless Border Management” and was followed by the first joint ICAO/International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Passenger Data Exchange Forum from 27 to 28 May 20214.

• Through the signature of relevant Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), ICAO works closely with many leading international organizations that have a key role to play in traveller identification, such as the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) which is expected to be signed in 2022.

• Considering the aforementioned ongoing work, and as described in the ICAO Business Plan 2023–2025, future work in the area of TRIP with the Output SECF 2 – Enhanced capabilities of States to facilitate the movement of people and goods by air, and uniquely identify individuals, including through implementation of innovations, leading to improved efficiency in border management operations and increased resilience to future challenges.

• These elements highlight the ICAO TRIP work programme actions taken and innovation implemented to support States in the safe restart of air transport operations.

• This roadmap was endorsed by the 40th Session of the ICAO Assembly in 2019, with the understanding that it should impose no obligation on States beyond the TRIP-related provisions of Annex 9.

• The significant package of SARPs on PNR data, as per Amendment 28 to Annex 9 effective since 28 October 2020, marked an important step towards establishing a global framework for the collection, use, processing and protection of PNR data in line with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2396 (2017) and ICAO Doc 9944, Guidelines on Passenger Name Record (PNR) Data.

• Focus and priorities will be placed, inter alia, on: developing and updating policies and guidance for all TRIP elements including the use case of health certificates in the travel context by using the VDS-NC specifications, raising awareness and promoting the TRIP strategy, promoting coordination and cooperation among States, regional and international organizations and the private sector for the provision of the appropriate level of expertise in TRIP-related matters, and providing assistance to States, as required, through global and regional webinars, workshops and training to enhance their TRIP-capacity building, under the NCLB initiative.

• This may introduce a false sense of security in ePassports, widely considered as the most secure form of travel document.

• In that regard, ICAO participated actively in the UN CT Travel Programme with the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) in joint deep dive missions focusing on Passenger Data Exchange matters, thereby providing expertise in several data exchange seminars aimed at implementing API and PNR.

• It incorporates new and revised Annex 9 Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) related to the ICAO TRIP Strategy with the objective to guide Member States in their efforts to implement this strategy and comply with the related Annex 9 SARPs as well as with the international specifications for MRTDs contained in Doc 9303, Machine Readable Travel Documents.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• In accordance with the ICAO Business Plan 2023–2025, Operating Plan Outputs DEV 1 and DEV 3, the Organization will, inter alia: continuously monitor and assess the evolving economic fallout of the pandemic to identify additional measures that can be taken by States and industry, including those for service providers, and update and expand the guidance, as deemed necessary, to address emerging issues, encourage the sharing of experiences among States and industry, and provide assistance, as required, through global and regional webinars and trainings, to support the implementation of economic and financial measures using the ICAO guidance, and promote coordination and cooperation among States, financial institutions, regional and international partners and the private sector on providing financial support to the aviation industry.

• While stressing the need to continue to provide adequate financial and regulatory support measures when deemed necessary, there was a common view that in the face of limited availability of resources for crisis response and competing priorities, orchestrated efforts are required from all relevant entities, including financial institutions, international partners, and the private sector.

• Recognizing that States have the primary responsibility for their aviation recovery, key principles that States should follow are highlighted at the outset of the guidance material, followed by a range of measures that can be explored by States and industry to alleviate the liquidity and financial strain.

• The potential deterioration in future economic viability of the sector could affect the balance of the aviation ecosystem, especially in relation to the funding of and financing for modernization and development of quality aviation infrastructure to meet post-pandemic capacity needs (A41-WP/12-EC/2, Report on Developments Regarding the Economic Aspects of Airports and Air Navigation Services refers).

• Considering the crucial role of aviation in the national economy and in the overall recovery from the pandemic, various forms of government support have been provided by States to the beleaguered aviation industry so that it can maintain financial stability and continue operations.

• To the extent possible, the industry is also expected to utilize the opportunities brought by the aforementioned government regulatory support such as operational flexibilities and temporary alleviation of regulatory restrictions.

• The type and duration of government support significantly affects the recovery of the sector, and has implications on future structure, conduct and performance of the industry and market in general.

• As such, seven key principles, drawing from the existing ICAO economic policies and guidance, should not be neglected, even in extraordinary times like the COVID-19 pandemic, to safeguard fair competition and avoid market distortion.

• State regulatory support intends to provide regulatory relief and operational flexibilities to support industry to sustain businesses and operations suffering from a very low demand environment.

• In response to the economic consequences, the industry took a series of “self-help” actions aiming at cost control, maximizing liquidity and increasing operational efficiency.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Considering the aforementioned ongoing work, and as described in the ICAO Business Plan 2023–2025, future work in the area of economics of airports and air navigation services will be carried out in accordance with the Output DEV 3 – Enhanced capabilities of States to use aviation as an effective means to achieve economic development, in particular, increase accessibility to funding and financing for aviation infrastructure development and improvement of air connectivity.

• In accordance with the Council’s decision, work has been carried out jointly by AEP-ANSEP and METP to develop cost recovery mechanisms for the provision of space weather information services to aviation, taking into account the associated costs for both provider States and users.

• As the provision of MET services is expected to undergo a transformation over the next decade, consistent with air transport modernization envisioned in the ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP), the current focus is on providing additional cost recovery guidance to MET services providers to meet this evolution.

• Focus was placed on updating existing policies and guidance, developing new guidance and tools on funding and financing in aviation infrastructure, and addressing emerging issues such as cost recovery mechanisms for the provision of aeronautical meteorological (MET) services, space weather information services and funding the operation of the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

• Focus and priorities will be placed, inter alia, on: a) update policies and guidance for economics and management of airports and air navigation services, and b) develop and update guidance on funding and financing for aviation infrastructure and operations, as well as tools for business case analysis of aviation infrastructure projects.

• Further efforts are being made on addressing the short-, medium and long-term economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on airports and air navigation services, such as supporting the financial viability of the sector and the capital investment in new and upgraded infrastructure to meet future capacity needs and relevant Sustainable Development Goals.

• ICAO’s policies on charges and guidance on airports and air navigation services economics are being further reviewed and assessed to ensure their relevance in the changing situation and responsiveness to future exogenous shocks and development needs over the medium- to long-term.

• Efforts were made to address emerging issues arising from industry technological advancement and the associated investment requirements for new aviation infrastructure and/or services provision.

• The document provides detailed explanation with practical examples on how to conduct economic and financial analysis for the evaluation of costs and benefits of aviation infrastructure projects.

• Through the joint working group of AEP-ANSEP and the Meteorology Panel (METP), and in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), guidance contained in Doc 9161 was revised to reflect the current state of the provision of MET services and was supplemented with additional information on the financial management of multinational facilities and services.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The Assembly Resolution A40-9 requested the Council, inter alia, “to address the remaining issues of concern to be able to make progress towards a Convention on Foreign Investment in Airlines, which aims to liberalize air carrier ownership and control on a multilateral basis in line with the ICAO Long-term Vision for International Air Transport Liberalization1”, and “to undertake further work to build a better understanding of the benefits and challenges of liberalization and barriers to opening market access, so that further consideration could be given to the development of a multilateral approach at the appropriate time”.

• The Organization intends to continue to work with Member States on the establishment and promotion of good regulatory practices and governance for international air transport, including the modernization and harmonization of regulatory approaches of Member States, while promoting the implementation of the ICAO Long-Term Vision for International Air Transport Liberalization, as the industry recovers from the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Building upon the engagement and enthusiasm already generated by the ATRP on the development of a draft Convention on Foreign Investment in Airlines, work should continue to address the remaining issues of concern on “labour and social considerations, fair competition and associated issues, and regulatory oversight”, with a view to finalizing this draft Convention.

• The work arising from the Resolution on the Convention on Foreign Investment in Airlines was assigned to the Air Transport Regulation Panel (ATRP) under the Air Transport Committee (ATC), while the task on building a better understanding of the benefits and challenges of liberalization and barriers to opening market access, was undertaken by the ICAO Secretariat.

• Considering that one of the conclusions of the Sixteenth Meeting of the ATRP was that there is a need to examine whether there is enough justification to recommend to the Air Transport Committee the development of a specific international agreement to facilitate further liberalization of air cargo services, the Organization would examine whether there is enough justification for this task to be pursued.

• Economic regulation on international operations of unmanned aircraft: The increasing use of unmanned aircraft across borders has become an emerging issue, which has drawn the Organization’s interest, especially the need to examine whether economic guidance would be required for such operations in the nearest future.

• The Panel decided to establish a Working Group to examine whether there is enough justification to recommend to the ATC to consider the development of a specific international agreement to facilitate further liberalization of air cargo services.

• This paper reports on the progress of the work by the ATRP and the ICAO Secretariat, and presents the Organization’s plan for future work in the area of the economic regulation of international air transport.

• The issue was discussed at the last meeting of the ATRP and many members expressed support for advancing this task, bearing in mind that operations of unmanned aircraft in commercial international air transport is still relatively new and technical regulations on its operations are yet to be fully developed.

• Economic regulation on international operations of unmanned aircraft: Considering the fact that economic guidance may be required for international operations of unmanned aircraft in the nearest future, the Organization would undertake the task of conducting in-depth assessments and analysis on whether there is a need to develop guidance material on economic regulation for international operations of unmanned aircraft and share information and best practices on economic regulatory issues on unmanned aircraft amongst Member States.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Given the high uncertainties surrounding the recovery, post-COVID-19 LTF was structured with three indicative scenarios, i.e. mid, high and low, as described in Appendix C. In updating the passenger LTF, while the coefficients of variables in the pre-COVID-19 LTF model remain unchanged, the latest socio-economic projections were applied to reflect the COVID-19 related changes in real gross domestic product (GDP) and population.

• The freight LTF was also recalculated in the similar manner to the passenger LTF, using the pre-COVID-19 LTF model with updated economic projections and taking into account the scale of the 2020 downturn and short-term recovery based on inputs from the MDWG-LTF and information from IATA.

• Given the ever-changing market conditions and high traffic volatility during the recovery phase, it is imperative that Member States and aviation stakeholders can access updated forecasts to meet their post-pandemic planning and implementation needs.

• Because of the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, further update was made in early 2021 to account for both the estimated traffic decline and recovery paths during the pandemic years as well as the impact on long-term projection (hereinafter referred to as post-COVID-19 LTF).

• As described in the ICAO Business Plan 2023-2025, the focus and priority of future work in the area of forecasts and planning (a part of Output DEV 4 – Enhanced capabilities of States to maximize the utility of aviation data/statistics and long-term traffic forecasts) will be placed on: a) maximizing the utility of the LTF through the biannual updates at granular level and their customization according to the needs and, and b) continuous refinement of the econometric methodologies and data set by working with the MDWG-LTF under ADAP.

• Since the development of the ICAO single set of long-term traffic forecasts (LTF) in 2016, the Secretariat has been regularly updating the forecasts in accordance with Assembly Resolution A40-9 (Appendix E), through working with the Multi-disciplinary Working Group on Long-term Traffic Forecasts (MDWG-LTF)1 under the Aviation Data and Analysis Panel (ADAP).

• In addition, short-term impacts of the pandemic on air traffic and possible recovery paths were accounted for by introducing adjustment factors that align the mid scenario with the assumptions used for the forecasts of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

• The predicted values of RPKs and FTKs were used to compute the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of passenger and freight traffic for a 10-year (2018-2028), 20-year (2018-2038), 30-year (2018-2048), and 32-year (2018- 2050) period.

• As a follow up to A40-9, and in response to the request of the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), it was updated in early 2020, using year 2018 as a baseline and extending the forecast period to 2050 (hereinafter referred to as pre-COVID-19 LTF).

• Results of freight LTF are presented in Appendix E. The first table provides a comparison of global FTK CAGRs between the pre-COVID-19 LTF (2018 baseline) and three post-COVID-19 scenarios.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• In accordance with the ICAO Business Plan 2023–2025 Operating Plan Output DEV 5 – Enhanced skills of States to implement and manage aviation-related big data solutions and take stock of innovations in support of data driven policies, the focus and priority of future work of the ICAO Statistics Programme and big data analytics will be placed on: collecting new and additional data through the ICAO Statistics Programme including the Air Transport Reporting Forms and surveys, continuously enhancing the Organization’s capacity and capability in processing and analyzing big data and conducting analysis on emerging issues of global importance jointly with States, UN agencies and other international organizations, and disseminating and sharing aviation big data dashboards and analysis with Member States, thus serving Member States and aviation stakeholders in their recovery, planning and implementation needs.

• ICAO will continue to provide aviation-related big data solutions, algorithm based technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide data visualizations, identify trends, make predictions, and conduct related big data analysis to assist States in their recovery, planning and implementation efforts.

• The ADS-B data was also provided to the Environment Branch of ICAO for developing a process to fulfil the requirement on Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) by filling data gap using ADS-B data in combination with other datasets and environmental tools.

• During ADAP/3, the Panel discussed the possibility to monitor connectivity of international passengers in real time during times of public-health emergencies, using the potential of big data, particularly the Central Reservation Systems (CRS) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.

• The cloud computing architecture allows for cross referencing and combining official data with big data sources, making it a powerful repository of information for States, international organizations and other stakeholders.

• ICAO worked with the United Nations Global Big Data Group to develop business intelligence dashboards for data driven decision making.

• At the Third Meeting of the Aviation Data and Analysis Panel (ADAP/3) held in June 2021, several recommendations were made on ICAO’s statistical activities, including: a) the collection of data on cybersecurity incidents, b) the survey on the licensed aviation personnel by gender, and c) the statistical definition of non-scheduled all-cargo traffic.

• Efforts were also made to ensure the harmonization of aviation data and statistics from different sources to facilitate the provision of accurate, reliable and consistent data required for informed decision-making by States.

• The ICAO Business Plan 2023-2025 identified the role of big data analytics in leveraging and unlocking the potential value of such data to improve safety and operational efficiency of aviation, allowing States and the industry to make more informed decisions and policymaking.

• Regarding the COMTRADE and E-com data, ICAO and the UPU, under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Organizations, have commenced using these big data sources and the ADS-B data to conduct a joint project on Analyzing International Logistics Constraints for E-commerce.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Taking into account the aforementioned recommendations and in accordance with the ICAO Business Plan 2023-2025, Output DEV 3 – Enhanced capabilities of States to use aviation as an effective means to achieve economic development, the future work on the Aviation Satellite Account will focus on the following: finalizing the draft ASA methodological framework document by incorporating a new chapter to provide flexibility for States to capture the economic contribution of aircraft manufacturing, in coordinating with the UNSD, raising the awareness of the ASA and promoting its application by States, including national statistical offices, central banks, transport authorities and other ministries in charge of related portfolios such as finance, economic planning and trade, and providing assistance for States in the application of the ICAO ASA methodological framework for measuring the economic contribution of aviation.

• The results revealed that: obtaining detailed data on aircraft manufacturing for civil aviation is difficult due to the constraint of data availability, b) the assessment of its value added can be complicated and will entail estimation using data from various government and private sources, c) the underlining data in national accounts does not distinguish the civilian and non-civilian production, and d) the impact of the inclusion of the value added of aircraft manufacturing in civil aviation industry’s contribution to national GDP will vary by States depending on the weight of such production in the State.

• Considering the divergent views expressed and the different use of the ASA by States, the Division agreed that the ASA methodological framework should provide flexibility for States to capture the economic contribution of aircraft manufacturing according to their needs while maintaining the core framework focusing on services.

• The preliminary draft “Aviation Satellite Account” (ASA) methodological framework presented to the A40 aims to provide guidance on compiling a satellite account for measuring the direct economic contribution of aviation to national economy, in line with the System of National Accounts, 2008 (2008 SNA)1 adopted by the UN – an internationally-agreed statistical framework that provides a comprehensive, consistent and flexible set of macroeconomic accounts for policy-making, analysis and research purposes.

• Recognizing that there has been no internationally-agreed standard on measuring the economic contribution of aviation to national economy, the 39th Session of the Assembly requested “the Council to instruct the Secretary General to develop a methodological framework for the economic measurement of aviation activity, including aviation’s contribution to GDP, the number of jobs created by aviation, aviation consumption, and the impact of aviation on balance of payments” (A39-15 refers).

• To address the above comments, a series of exercises were carried out to validate and verify the draft ASA methodological framework by using data from States where both officially published study on economic contribution of aviation and national economic accounts are available.

• In this regard, the Division recommended the following: a) the current scope of civil aviation in the draft ASA methodological framework should be maintained without the inclusion of aircraft manufacturing, b) an additional chapter in the ASA methodological framework document should be developed to capture the economic contribution of aircraft manufacturing, and c) the EAG-ASA should undertake the task listed in b) and continue its work to finalize the ASA methodological framework document (Report of STA/11 refers).

• The ASA will enable States to make data-driven policy-making and evaluation for aviation development planning that is linked with national and/or regional development frameworks and strategies.

• During the A40, a view was expressed at the Economic Commission that the accuracy of the estimated result of direct economic impacts should be validated by vetting the framework with stakeholder experts using aviation specific data to measure the economic impact of aviation in States where such data is available.

• There were also concerns that the inclusion of aircraft manufacturing may result in larger economic contribution of aviation than all modes of transportation as a whole.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The revised consolidated statement maintains the same structure as Resolution A40-9, i.e. consisting of the introduction section and five appendices, as the following: - Introduction - Appendix A – Economic regulation of international air transport - Appendix B – Taxation - Appendix C – Airports and air navigation services - Appendix D – Aviation data and statistics - Appendix E – Forecasting, planning and economic analyses The proposed changes, substantive and editorial, aim to a) improve the presentation, remove clauses that have become outdated or redundant, or actions that have been completed, and introduce new clauses to reflect developments or decisions taken since the last Assembly.

• Resolution A40-9, Consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies in the air transport field, requires that the Council of ICAO keeps this statement under review and advise the Assembly when changes are required.

• Major amendments reflect the Council’s consideration on the progress made on economic regulation of international air transport (A41-WP/13-EC/3), the developments regarding the economic aspects of airports and air navigation services (A41-WP/12-EC/2), and the updates on the big data analytics, long-term forecasts and aviation satellite account (A41-WP/15-EC/5, A41-WP/14-EC/4 and A41-WP/16-EC/6).

• In addition, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions required in relevant areas have been incorporated in the respective appendices.

• Accordingly, a substantive review of Resolution A40-9 has been undertaken and a revised version of the resolution is presented in the Appendix.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Doc 10140, Assembly Resolutions in Force (as of 4 October 2019) Doc 9303, Machine Readable Travel Documents A41-WP/9, Developments pertaining to the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) A41/WP/19, Developments pertaining to Annex 9 — Facilitation A41-WP/10, Developments pertaining to the ICAO Traveller Identification Programme (ICAO TRIP) Strategy

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• To assist Member States in implementing Annex 9 health-related provisions, ICAO inter alia, convened weekly technical meetings with relevant international organizations, industry and other stakeholders, to facilitate coordination, harmonization of implementation efforts, identify challenges experienced by States, and to effectively provide guidance to aviation authorities, airlines, and airports on appropriate measures aimed to protect the health of the travelling public and reduce the risk of transmission.

• The Task Force presented proposals for new and revised health-related SARPs to the Twelfth Meeting of the Facilitation Panel (FALP/12), while it continues its mandate to, inter alia, develop associated guidance material and streamline the placement of all new and revised health-related SARPs, and the placement of existing SARPs in a new Chapter 10 on Health-related Provisions to Annex 9 — Facilitation.

• The FAL Programme’s work on Annex 9 for the next triennium addresses five core areas – streamlining of Annex 9 SARPs, monitoring States’ level of implementation of Annex 9 SARPs, assistance to Member States, responses to new and emerging issues including public health emergencies, and innovation in technologies impacting existing SARPs.

• A Public Health COVID-19 Self Declaration Form for use by States to collect information regarding health status from passengers arriving at their ports of entry has been developed in close consultations with health experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) experts, to facilitate global harmonization.

• The priorities include, inter alia, assistance to Member States through training, guidance material, regional implementation seminars, assistance projects to build capacity and enhance implementation of Annex 9 provisions, continuous engagement with advances in technologies and providing appropriate responses to new and emerging issues in the field of facilitation, design of appropriate auditing framework for the implementation of Annex 9 health-related SARPs, and the development of a mechanism to facilitate national facilitation oversight system.

• The Task Force’s mandate include inter alia, the review of all the health-related Annex 9 SARPs and the development of proposals for new and/or revised Annex 9 provisions, and associated guidance material.

• Throughout the pandemic, notably during the early phase, the Facilitation Section was very active in efforts to minimize the pandemic’s impact on the civil aviation sector, the travelling public, and to stimulate the restart, recovery and resilience of the sector, including through providing significant contributions to the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) and its Take-off Guidance Document.

• The ICAO Working Group on Human Trafficking developed a Comprehensive Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking in the Aviation Sector, to equip States, civil aviation authorities and organizations, aircraft operators, and airports with guidance and recommendations to inform their development of comprehensive counter-trafficking strategies in line with ICAO Assembly Resolution A40-16, Consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies related to facilitation.

• The 40th Session of the ICAO Assembly endorsed the Annex 9-related priorities for the 2020-2022 triennium under two categories - “working better with what we have”, the Programme’s priorities undertake a consolidation of its work, examine issues relating to non-compliance with the Annex 9 ― Facilitation SARPs, and the development of strategies to assist States in implementing the provisions of Annex 9.

• To address this need, assist States build capacity, and enhance implementation of Annex 9 provisions, ICAO developed three training courses entitled Annex 9 — Facilitation, ICAO Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Strategy, and Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families, for delivery in both virtual and classroom formats.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The Conference also considered the need to effectively monitor the implementation of the new and/or revised health-related provisions of Annex 9 and the continuing need for financial and in-kind contributions to supplement ICAO Regular Budget funds in order to raise awareness of the importance of Facilitation during times of public health crisis.

• The ICAO Council during the Eleventh Meeting of its 225th Session reviewed the HLCC 2021 Facilitation Stream recommendations and agreed to the inclusion of the 17 recommendations addressed to ICAO (Appendix B, refers) in the Organization’s business plan of work for the triennium 2023 to 2025, taking into account the priorities assigned with the understanding that this prioritization would be taken into account in the context of the ICAO Business Plan for the next triennium 2023-2025.

• To foster implementation of the HLCC 2021 Facilitation Stream recommendations addressed to Member States, a draft Assembly Resolution on air transport facilitation, affirming global commitment to enable the safe and efficient recovery of aviation from the COVID-19 pandemic, and to make aviation more resilient in the future is being proposed in Appendix C. To the extent feasible, work on implementing the Facilitation Stream recommendations has already begun.

• Appendix B proposes a high-level prioritization regarding the inclusion in ICAO’s 2023–2025 Business Plan of work items arising from the 17 HLCC 2021 Facilitation Stream recommendations to ICAO with the understanding that this prioritization would be taken into account in the context of the ICAO Business Plan for the next triennium 2023-2025.

• In order to ensure the enhancement and sustainability of ICAO’s facilitation initiatives in the context of the demonstrated economic importance of such activities in times of volatility, and the increasing importance of public health-related matters within facilitation, there is also a critical need to address the impact on the ICAO Regular Budget.

• In line with the Ministerial Declaration that stresses the importance of common standards, interoperability and mutual recommendation of digital applications and with HLCC Recommendation 8/1, and in order to support States in promoting and adopting a policy of mutual recognition of health proofs to facilitate the opening of borders, a Guide for Handling ICAO Visible Digital Seal for Non-Constrained Environments (VDS-NC) Health Proofs and EU-DCC1 has been approved by the Technical Advisory Group on the Traveller Identification Programme (TAG/TRIP).

• Under Agenda Item 7, Enhancing National Coordination and International Cooperation, the Conference discussed the importance of collaboration between public health authorities and aviation authorities, as well as the roles of regional Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) coordinators and State focal points of the ICAO CAPSCA Programme, noting that cross-sectoral collaboration was necessary to facilitate effective air transport operations during the pandemic and beyond.

• The ICAO Council during the Eleventh Meeting of its 225th Session endorsed the HLCC 2021 FAL Stream recommendations (Appendix A, refers) and noted that additional resources, both financial and human, would be required to support the implementation of the HLCC Facilitation Stream recommendations addressed to ICAO.

• This will be key to raise awareness on the importance of Facilitation in crisis times for all the air transport stakeholders and to ensure that appropriate efforts are made to assist States in implementing the provisions of Annex 9.

• The HLCC 2021 Facilitation Stream covered a wide range of subjects under the following agenda items that resulted in 79 recommendations: Agenda item 6: Facilitation operational measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, Agenda item 7: Enhancing National Coordination and International Cooperation, Agenda item 8: Enhancing digital data sharing to facilitate seamless and contactless processes during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, Agenda item 9: Future approaches to the management of sustainable health‑related facilitation measures for the passenger experience and advancing the implementation monitoring, and Agenda item 10: Other issues to be considered by the Facilitation stream.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• In line with the AAAVF 2021 recommendations, the Programme’s work and priorities for the area related to assistance to aircraft accident victims for the next triennium addresses the following areas: Monitoring of States’ level of implementation of the relevant ICAO Annexes SARPs: the compliance monitoring of AAAVF-related SARPs will be done via the ICAO USOAP, while additional information will be gathered through the EFOD mechanism, Identification of any gap and formulation of further recommendations: An assessment will be conducted considering the overarching issue of support to victims and families in all the Annexes in order to identify possible missing guidance and develop ad hoc further recommendations as required in close coordination with relevant ICAO bureaus, Panels, ICAO working groups, Member States, international organizations and industry through a focus group, Assistance to Member States through training, guidance material, regional implementation seminars, assistance projects for capacity building by the: provision of the recently developed training course related to assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families which is based on Doc 9998 and Doc 9973, allowing States to establish foundational knowledge, and organization of regional workshops in States/Regions with special needs relying on the support of ACVFFI and its associations, to provide additional factual experience and credibility as required.

• Similarly, the 40th Session of the Assembly adopted Resolution A40-16, which urged “Member States to implement the provisions of Annex 9 to facilitate assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families”, and requested “the Council to consider upgrading Annex 9 Recommended Practice 8.46 into an international Standard, as well as to consider introducing a new Annex 9 Recommended Practice, addressed to aircraft and airport operators on the development of appropriate plans to provide timely and effective assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families and to communicate them to ICAO”.

• In order to provide States with the appropriate capacity building tools, a course entitled “Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families” is being developed to provide Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) representatives, government officials, aircraft and airport operators with the necessary competencies to develop or refine appropriate family assistance legislation, regulations, policies, and plans, in accordance with Docs 9973 and 9998.

• Amendment 29 also adopted a new Recommended Practice 8.47 that States should ensure that each aircraft or airport operator develop plans to provide timely and effective assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families.

• The Council requested (C-DEC 225/2 refers) that the AAAVF 2021 recommendations be shared with the Assembly and incorporate into the next triennium Business Plan those Symposium’s recommendations that require further consultation with expert groups, taking into account capacity building assistance to Member States.

• This three-day course supports notably the recent upgrade of Annex 9, Recommended practice (RP) 8.46 to an international Standard, and the introduction of a new Annex 9 RP, addressed to aircraft and airport operators on the development of appropriate plans to provide timely and effective assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families.

• Promotion of the corresponding regulations and policies in order to enhance their level of implementation: Regional Offices will play an active part in promoting the relevant policies and guidance such as Doc 9998, Celebration of the commemoration day on 20 February 2023, 2024 and 2025 in order to reiterate the importance of this occasion in remembering the victims and in expressing solidarity with their families, and to pledge ICAO’s commitment to continue to work with Member States and stakeholders to enhance aviation safety and prevent such tragedies from happening in the future, and Organization of a symposium in 2024: ICAO will issue a State letter requesting States to host the next AAAVF symposium in order to ensure that the first AAAVF Symposium, hosted by the Government of Spain, will be given continuity by convening similarly-arranged symposia to fit within the ICAO Assembly cycle with the objective to inform the Assembly of the outcomes of these events.

• The Assembly is urged to encourage States, industry and other stakeholders to increase their efforts in implementing the AAAVF 2021 recommendations addressed to them in order to provide the appropriate assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families.

• In particular AAAVF 2021 identified that States do not always have the legislation and/or policies in place to support family assistance as mandated by Standard 8.46.

• Article 28 of the Montréal Convention of 28 May 1999 (Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (MC99)) mandates that carriers, in case of aircraft accidents resulting in death or injury of passengers, shall provide for assistance to aircraft accident victims, and any natural person or persons entitled to compensation through advance payments, without delay, in order to meet their immediate economic needs, insofar as such payments are foreseen in the carrier’s national legislation.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The CyAP provides the foundation for ICAO, States and stakeholders to work together, and proposes a series of principles, measures, and actions to achieve the objectives of the Cybersecurity Strategy’s seven pillars (International cooperation, Governance, Effective legislation and regulations, Cybersecurity policy, Information sharing, Incident management and emergency planning, Capacity building, training and cybersecurity culture).

• In line with the Cybersecurity Action Plan, ICAO developed guidance material to support States and stakeholders to address cybersecurity in civil aviation which includes the following (published on ICAO-NET under “Publications” and “Others”): Guidance on Traffic Light Protocol (TLP), which provides States and stakeholders with guidance on using TLP in order to facilitate cybersecurity information sharing, Cybersecurity Policy Guidance, which addresses the protection and resilience of international civil aviation’s critical infrastructure against cyber threats, and the multilateral cooperation requirement within civil aviation as well as with external authorities.

• Taking into account the changing priorities of Member States due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the experience of States and stakeholders in implementing aviation cybersecurity initiatives in their States and organizations, ICAO conducted a revision of the CyAP and published the second edition of the document in January 2022.

• It also called on ICAO to develop an Action Plan to support the implementation of the Aviation Cybersecurity Strategy, and to continue to ensure that cybersecurity matters are considered and coordinated in a cross-cutting manner.

• The guidance also addresses the need to designate the authority competent for aviation cybersecurity, and includes a template to support States and stakeholders to develop a Cybersecurity Policy, and Cybersecurity Culture in Civil Aviation, which supports the design and implementation of a robust cybersecurity culture, building on civil aviation’s success in implementing safety and security cultures.

• It will cover key aspects that would support States in designing and implementing their oversight obligations for aviation cybersecurity.

• To address these concerns, the Assembly called on ICAO to bring the work of these groups under the aegis of an overarching structure, and discussed a set of criteria which could underpin a revised cybersecurity governance structure.

• In line with the Assembly Resolution A40-10, ICAO developed and published in November 2020 the Cybersecurity Action Plan (CyAP) to support States and stakeholders in implementing the Aviation Cybersecurity Strategy.

• Its development also supports Assembly Resolution A40-25: Implementing Aviation Training and Capacity Building Strategies, which lays out how ICAO, through training activities, shall assist and support States with the development of sufficient human resources and capacity.

• The ANC, during its 219th Session, approved the evolution of the Trust Framework Study Group into a new ANC Panel to continue the work on the International Aviation Trust Framework.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The document highlights various security culture events, campaigns and initiatives, as well as security culture best practices and guidance material developed and shared by the aviation community.

• The State Letter also requested the delivery of practical security culture events and initiatives throughout 2021, and beyond, by all entities to help promote a strong and effective security culture in aviation.

• Future Projects ICAO continues to roll out a number of security culture assistance products that include an interactive e-learning package on security culture, a security culture short film, security culture discussion cards for use in training, briefings and other assistance activities, and customizable resources (templates) to support local security culture campaigns.

• With the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacting aviation in 2020, the ICAO Council (C-MIN 220/7) decided to defer the YOSC to 2021, with the following priority activities: execute a global security culture campaign, which will support the organization of national, regional and global events to raise security awareness in aviation, intensify collaboration with States and industry in promoting security culture in the greater aviation community, where security is everyone’s responsibility, issue relevant guidance on practical security culture communication strategies, plans and campaigns, and continue to offer training and assistance focused on promoting an effective and sustainable security culture within all organizations involved in civil aviation.

• The Assembly recommended that ICAO continue work on the development of tools to enhance security awareness and security culture, making it a priority and designated 2020 as the ICAO Year of Security Culture (YOSC).

• The Webinar also highlighted the various tools, resources and guidance available to support a permanent focus on security culture by all in aviation with speakers sharing security insights and best practices.

• Of note was the Airports Council International (ACI) World/ICAO YOSC Video Challenge, in which the aviation community was encouraged to produce short videos with the aim of enhancing the security behaviours and practices of aviation employees.

• These tools include an ICAO Security Culture Campaign Starter Pack, which supports the development of security culture programmes and campaigns, as well as the ICAO Security Culture Toolkit, which identifies effective security behaviours and actions to support a positive security culture.

• The website includes security culture best practices from ICAO, States, industry, and other organizations.

• The aviation community is encouraged to continue building on the achievements of the YOSC, to use the ICAO security culture tools and resources, and to take further practical actions to raise security awareness in aviation operations.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Assistance provided for States in the field of economic development of air transport is designed to raise awareness of, and facilitate the implementation of, relevant ICAO policies and guidance while reducing a State’s costs in performing its economic regulatory functions.

• Support and implementation of this programme has, in addition to the Regular Budget, to a large degree, relied on voluntary contributions provided to ICAO, both financial and in-kind, from States, international organizations and industry.

• Pursuant to Assembly Resolutions A40-17: Consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies and practices related to environmental protection — General provisions, noise and local air quality, A40-6: Regional cooperation and assistance to resolve safety deficiencies, establishing priorities and setting measurable targets, A40-11: Consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies related to aviation security and A39-23: No Country Left Behind (NCLB) Initiative, this paper presents a consolidated report for the current triennium on the ICAO Technical Assistance Programme.

• At the time of reporting, 30 iPack deployments had been carried out in the fields of facilitation, safety risk management, aerodrome restart and aviation security, benefiting 40 ICAO Member States, with an additional 14 deployments in these fields as well as Public Health Corridors in the process of being completed in 14 States, while coordination is ongoing for 50 further deployments in 56 States.

• The ICAO Council approved, during its 225th Session, a new Implementation Support Policy aligning the management of the Technical Cooperation and Technical Assistance programmes, projects, products and services.

• As part of the wider State action plan initiative, the Secretariat continues to support States in the preparation and implementation of action plans, and encourages all States to incorporate the latest innovative solutions available into their State Action Plan to ensure the achievement of ICAO’s global aspiration goals.

• ICAO continues to work with States, international organizations and industry to support the provision of technical assistance to States and regional organizations under the Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership (ASIAP).

• The primary objective of aviation security and facilitation assistance is to support Member States in resolving significant security concerns (SSeCs) identified through the ICAO Aviation Security Audit Programme (USAP), and to assist States in implementing the SARPs, as well as the ICAO Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Strategy.

• In accordance with global plans for deployment and current implementation rates, with support from donors, ICAO Regional Offices and technical bureaus, it is projected that more than 90 States across all regions could potentially benefit from iPacks in 2022.

• To this end, States, international and regional organizations, and industry are strongly encouraged to share information on technical assistance activities, consider opportunities for collaboration, as well as the establishment of partner agreements.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• OSS Benefits: fulfilment of ICAO’s invitation to strengthen inter-State cooperation, reduction in resources invested by the industry to date for rescreening, avoidance of the duplication of controls through the validation of procedures, public health benefits from lowering risks to air transport users and aviation workers without detriment to civil aviation security, and sharing of best practices used by each State.

• The authority and the industry have seen the local and international benefits that accrue to the civil aviation system from States’ implementation of the recognition of security equivalence, by adjusting the infrastructure while complying with existing civil aviation regulations, thus reducing connection times for passengers, baggage, cargo and mail.

• Article 37 of the International Civil Aviation Convention provides that “each contracting State undertakes to collaborate in securing the highest practicable degree of uniformity in regulations, standards, procedures and organization in relation to aircraft, personnel, airways and auxiliary services in all matters in which such uniformity will facilitate and improve air navigation”, Annex 17 – Aviation Security to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and Doc 8973 – Aviation Security Manual permit and lay down methods that States may use for the recognition of equivalence of other States’ security measures in order to avoid duplication of security control of passengers, cabin baggage, hold baggage and cargo in transit and transhipment.

• The current reactivation of international civil aviation poses a great challenge to the world, for it obliges the air industry to strive to lower the processing, procedural and facilitation costs of the movement of travellers, cargo and mail through airports, which now makes it particularly important, more than ever, to implement cooperation agreements among States that have already signed agreements and to formulate bilateral and multilateral commitments embodied in technical cooperation agreements or memoranda of understanding as part of the strategy to reactivate commercial aviation and the aviation industry in general, for States that have not entered into such agreements.

• In the area of civil aviation security, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has requested States to establish and conclude risk-based unilateral, bilateral and/or multilateral memoranda of understanding on recognition and acceptance of civil aviation security measures in order to enhance the sustainability of the aviation security system by avoiding unnecessary duplication of security controls.

• Colombia and Peru ratified the agreement in 2021 and have since been rolling out the stages mentioned in the signed document, as the benefits of addressing common connectivity problems at the international airports in Lima and Bogota can be ascertained (during bilateral technical visits this year) and security measures have been taken to mitigate civil aviation risks within the balanced security and facilitation framework.

• Recognition of equivalence of security measures is achieved effectively on the basis of best practices and the application of common standards among States, which inspire mutual trust and enables one to take the first step to validate procedures.

• Mutual trust comes into play in the standardized implementation of civil aviation security regulations, standards and procedures enshrined in Annex 17 – Aviation Security to the Chicago Convention for the protection of international civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference.

• According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), connectivity is based on movement of passengers, mail and cargo involving the minimum of transit points, which makes the journey as short as possible and optimizes user satisfaction at the minimum price.

• Owing to these procedures that rest on the use of efficient technological systems and timely passenger information sharing, OSS is secure and effective in terms of both AVSEC and public health.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Following extensive discussions at the Ministerial Sessions, the final draft Declaration presented to the Ministerial Plenary (Closing) received broad support, while noting additional comments on provisions related to climate change and specific national position to testing and/or quarantine requirements for fully-vaccinated or recovered passengers, as well as the recognition of vaccines for international travel.

• The record-high attendance along with the active interventions and delivery of statements by Ministers and Deputy Ministers has demonstrated their recognition of ICAO’s leading role in the transport portfolio and raised the profile of aviation agenda at the political level in many Member States.

• The record-high number of attendance by Ministerial-level participants, though benefited from various one-time factors as indicated in paragraph 2.2, has signified the strong political will and commitments of States and industry to rebuild the aviation sector from the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible.

• Fourth, emphasizing the need of participation at the Ministerial level with application of strict criteria for attendance by an alternate, might have created an impetus for Ministers’ attendance.

• As the first follow-up action, the Ministerial Declaration was disseminated to Member States and international organizations through State letter 2021/70.

• The Ministerial Plenary Sessions of the Conference successfully scaled up to the political level of the dialogue on civil aviation, which is often considered as a relatively narrow and sectoral subject within the large and diverse transport portfolio.

• Through the Declaration, Ministers were committed to the greatest extent possible, a harmonized and inclusive approach, including alleviating or exempting testing and/or quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated or recovered passengers, taking into account the different circumstances of individual States and their national polices, consistent with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

• Strong interests were also expressed by Ministers, Deputy Ministers and heads of organizations in making interventions, most of whom preferred delivering prepared statements (a total of 56 interventions were reserved in advance and 30 interventions were made spontaneously).

• Lastly, Ministers also agreed to invite the 41st Session of the ICAO Assembly to review progress and determine further actions that may be needed.

• This paper focuses primarily on the outcomes of the Ministerial Plenary Sessions, which discussed the key high-level policies responses, set up the firm political commitments to confronting COVID-19 challenges through multilateral actions, and reviewed and adopted the Ministerial Declaration (HLCC 2021-WP/1-PLN/1, HLCC 2021-WP/3-PLN/3 and Doc 10160 refer).

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The monitoring of the development and implementation of the action plan to address the USOAP-AG recommendations will be presented to the Council on a yearly basis as part of the report of the evolution and performance of the USOAP CMA.

• The USOAP CMA is an information-driven, risk-based and result-oriented programme whose objectives include: monitoring States using a web-based platform — the “online framework” (OLF), determining States’ effective implementation of safety oversight systems, validating their progress in addressing identified deficiencies, and assessing the maturity of their State safety programmes (SSP) implementation.

• The organizational improvements stream encompasses actions taken to enhance the quality of the programme and its products as well as to support the implementation of recommendations of expert groups.

• An amendment of the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Manual (Doc 9735) and the Regional Office Manual released in 2022 including new processes resulting from the implementation of the recommendations of the Group of Experts for a USOAP CMA Structured Review (GEUSR), innovations from the pandemic and organizational improvements will be implemented.

• High-level Conference on COVID-19 (HLCC) The HLCC held from 12 to 22 October 2021, recommended ICAO inter alia integrate State safety programme (SSP) implementation assessments (SSPIAs) with traditional USOAP CMA activities, making use of the consultation mechanism as proposed by the USOAP-AG (Doc 10160, Recommendation 5/2, d)).

• The long-term vision for this evolution aims at maintaining the status of the programme as a global aviation monitoring system for States’ safety oversight and accident/incident investigation capabilities and/or the maturity of their SSP implementation.

• Additional resources needed to progress the evolution and realize the execution of the USOAP CMA have been identified and are proposed in the regular budget for 2023 2025.

• The transformations planned will strengthen the programme and progress it in line with the evolving safety strategy of ICAO, as contained in the 2023-2025 edition of the Global Aviation Safety Plan.

• The improvements are expected to improve the information the programme conveys to decision-making bodies.

• Ad hoc USOAP CMA Advisory Group (USOAP-AG) Stemming from a recommendation of the 13th Air Navigation Conference (AN-Conf/13), the USOAP-AG was established to further evolve the USOAP CMA, beyond the GEUSR recommendations, to address duplication of effort and find synergies to enhance the efficiency of the USOAP CMA while maintaining safeguards to guarantee the independence, universality, standardization and global acceptance in the implementation of the programme (Doc 10115, Recommendation 6.3/1, refers).

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• As a result, a new “Policy on ICAO Implementation Support Provided to States” was approved by the Council in March 2022 which aims at strengthening and harmonizing the coordination and management of implementation support programmes, projects, products, services and activities, integrating these efforts into the ICAO Business Plan, and ensuring that the support provided to States across all areas of civil aviation is relevant, efficient, consistent in content and delivery regardless of the source of assistance or the associated funding mechanism.

• Whereas risk management has always been an integral part of the Technical Cooperation Bureau at the corporate, Programme and project levels, through the formal introduction of a Bureau Risk Register under its QMS and its subsequent refinement, automation, documentation and full alignment with the ICAO Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework endorsed by the Council in February 2021, the Bureau has been able to routinely capture and address recurrent and ad hoc risks that arise or are anticipated to arise in the context of its operations using a structured, systematic, and integrated approach.

• As part of the long-term phase of the Business Model, and in line with External Audit recommendations, the Bureau’s procurement administrative function was transferred to the Bureau of Administration and Services (ADB) in December 2021, ensuring harmonization with the United Nations system and further enabling proper segregation of duties to avoid potential conflicts of interest, assure sound internal controls, reduce ethical risks and align with best practices related to governance.

• Cognizant of the fundamental importance of improved cooperation and coordination to avoid duplication and redundancy and ensure a more efficient allocation of the limited resources available to the Organization, the Council therefore endorsed a proposal for alignment of the management of ICAO’s Programmes of Technical Cooperation and Technical Assistance within the “One-ICAO” approach with a view to achieving a collaborative and consistent approach for all implementation support activities.

• Building on the enhanced coordination, cooperation and collaboration between TCB, the Air Navigation Bureau (ANB), the Air Transport Bureau (ATB) and the Regional Offices realized in the triennium, and as a further example of the benefits of the “One-ICAO” approach, a joint project planning exercise was carried out which, by leveraging the Regional Offices’ outreach functions and extensive knowledge of regional needs, identified a number of States in need of ICAO support across all regions and their specific requirements which may be addressed through the implementation of civil aviation-related projects.

• This included the introduction of a standardized methodology for the end-to-end management of projects based on a fully collaborative One-Single Process (OSP) approach, aligned with recognized project management standards and incorporating relevant best practices, which improved internal coordination, strengthened governance mechanisms, enhanced project monitoring, reporting and evaluation, and improved performance management at Bureau level, all leading to more effective and efficient project delivery.

• With a view to achieving a harmonized and consistent approach for all implementation support activities undertaken by ICAO, the medium-term phase addressed the alignment of the Organization’s management of Technical Cooperation and Technical Assistance programmes, projects and activities.

• Its continuing importance has been reaffirmed by the Assembly in several resolutions, inter alia, in the Consolidated Statement of ICAO Policies on Technical Cooperation and Technical Assistance (Resolution A40-24), which stipulates that the Technical Cooperation Programme is a permanent priority activity of ICAO that complements the role of the Regular Programme in providing support to States in the effective implementation of SARPs, PANS and global, regional and national aviation plans, as well as in the development of their civil aviation administration infrastructure and human resources.

• The purpose of this report is to illustrate the Technical Cooperation Programme performance results in the 2019-2021 triennium from the financial and non-quantifiable operational perspectives, as well as to provide an update on policies and strategies for implementation support for the mid to long-term.

• This reporting period therefore saw the development and endorsement by the Council of a new Strategy and Business Model for the Technical Cooperation Bureau aimed at enhancing the services provided in partnership with other ICAO Bureaus and Regional Offices and delivering greater value to ICAO Member States.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The paper reports on the Global Aviation Training (GAT) activities implemented during the triennium 2019-2021, including, inter alia, achievements of the TRAINAIR PLUS Programme (TPP), the Aviation Security Training Centres (ASTC) Network, the development of ICAO-recognized training packages, collaborative endeavours, as well new training priorities and projects in the next triennium to support Member States.

• There were a total of 47 ICAO-sponsored aviation security training events conducted through the ASTC Network, including 23 virtual-class and 24 in-person AVSEC training activities, with 576 AVSEC specialists from a total of 92 Member States having benefitted from such training.

• The COVID-19 General Guidance for ICAO-sponsored AVSEC Classroom Training Events was developed to provide ASTCs with global guidance for safely conducting classroom-training activities, in accordance with their national health requirements.

• The implementation of competency-based training courses supports human resources capacity-building of Member States in all ICAO Strategic Objectives.

• In addition, the Secretariat recognizes the need to continue updating existing training to align with the current iteration of Annex 17 – Security, the security related SARPs of Annex 9 – Facilitation, and the ICAO Aviation Security Manual (Doc 8973 – Restricted), and to develop new aviation security and facilitation training that addresses gaps in the current portfolio as well as new and emerging threats.

• The main mitigation activities implemented included: the development of online courses on urgent topics, in collaboration with ICAO Bureaus, to support the aviation sector in the post-crisis recovery, the conversion of existing classroom courses into virtual classrooms, the translation of online courses in different ICAO languages based on high demand, the conduct of weekly webinars to the industry to increase awareness on ICAO’s COVID-19 mitigation measures, the development of targeted partnerships on urgent post-pandemic recovery topics, and the marketing and promotional strategies for online and virtual courses.

• One of the latest achievements in partnership with Airport Council International (ACI) is the expansion of the TPP scope by awarding a dual ICAO-ACI recognition process for training organizations that are either the training arms of airports or deliver aerodromes training.

• TPEMS version 2.0 was launched in January 2021 with enhanced interface and efficiency, meanwhile, new functions were incorporated in the system, such as the post-training evaluation process, course review process, alignment with the new TPP framework, streamlined operational processes, and the Aviation Training and Education Directory (ATED).

• As part of this integration and per the ICAO Civil Aviation Training Policy, which establishes that all ICAO aviation training activities shall be planned, managed and coordinated by GAT to ensure efficient and effective implementation, TCB fellowship activities are being migrated from TCB’s Field Operations Section (FOS) to GAT.

• Partnerships with Academic Institutions and International Organizations Training partnerships with tertiary education providers, international organizations, and industry companies are pursued to the extent they address the evolving needs of the Member States, and ensure continued relevance, accessibility, and optimum training solutions in a competitive pricing model.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Assembly Resolution A39-31 contains resolving clauses that, inter alia, require Member States to recognize the necessity to pay their contributions in the year in which they fall due, set out the conditions and terms under which Member States may enter into agreements to liquidate long-outstanding arrears, and make reference to the application of the provisions of Article 62 of the Convention relating to the suspension of voting power.

• In addition, Assembly Resolution A38-25, inter alia, requests the Council to closely monitor the question of outstanding contributions, the effect of the incentive schemes on payment of arrears by States, and to report to the next ordinary session of the Assembly on the results of their efforts, including other measures to be considered.

• Its continuation was confirmed by Assembly Resolution A38-25 in Resolving Clause 3 that provides that subject to cash surplus availability, only that portion of a payment from a Member State that is in excess of the sum of the three preceding years’ assessments and all instalments due under agreements entered into under Resolving Clause 4 of Assembly Resolution A37-32 shall be retained in a separate account to finance expenditure on aviation security activities, and new and unforeseen projects related to aviation safety, and/or to the enhancement of the efficient delivery of ICAO programmes, such action to be under the control of the Council.

• In order to discourage the practice by some States of only making a token payment during the Assembly in order to enter into an agreement and restore their voting rights, Clause 4 a) of Assembly Resolution A39-31 requires a minimum payment which includes amounts owing to the Working Capital Fund, the current year’s contributions in Canadian and United States dollars, and a partial settlement of their arrears amounting to five per cent of the arrears.

• In accordance with their agreements, Group A States are required to pay the current year’s assessment as well as an agreed-upon annual instalment to liquidate long-outstanding prior years’ arrears of assessments.

• Additional measures regarding suspended voting rights: In accordance with Resolving Clause 10 of Assembly Resolution A39-31, the additional measures were added in order to encourage Member States whose voting rights have been suspended under Article 62 of the Convention, to pay their contributions when due.

• Voting power in the Assembly: in accordance with Resolving Clause 6 of Assembly Resolution A39-31, the voting power in the Assembly is suspended for States that have failed to discharge their financial obligations to the Organization equivalent or in excess to the preceding three years’ assessments, and which have not concluded an agreement or have not complied with the terms of their agreement.

• This clause further provides that suspension of voting power will be immediately revoked upon the settlement of outstanding amounts due or of the conclusion with the Council of an agreement to liquidate arrears over a period of time and compliance with the terms of the agreement.

• The Financial Regulations require payment of contributions and advances to the Working Capital Fund by the first day of the financial year to which they relate, or thirty days from receipt of the notification from the Secretary General concerning assessments, whichever is the later of the two.

• The 32nd Session of the Assembly approved Assembly Resolution A32-27, creating the Incentive Scheme for the Settlement of Long-outstanding Arrears and a related special account.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The report of the Working Group highlighted that the industry standards from the non-profit sector for minimum reserve (equivalent to WCF) varies from three to four months of an organization’s relevant expenditure, and suggested some guidance on determining such target levels.

• Unless payments towards assessments are received from Member States on a timely basis in the year that they are due and in conformity with the Financial Regulations, pressures will always be exerted on the finances of the Organization.

• This working paper reports on the adequacy of the current level of the WCF and the borrowing authority as requested by the Assembly.

• However, in light of uncertainties and the unpredictable nature of cash flow in the upcoming years, it would be prudent to retain the borrowing authority at the current level for future years.

• Taking into consideration the above, an increase in the level of the WCF is not requested at this time.

• Table 2 illustrates the cash position of the General Fund, including the WCF, at the end of each quarter from 2016 to 2021.

• In 2021, the Finance and Budget Network of the United Nations High-level Committee on Management (HLCM) established a Working Group on Operational Reserves.

• In 2007, the Assembly authorized the Secretary General to borrow, if necessary and with the prior approval of the Finance Committee of the Council, amounts to finance regular and supplementary appropriations, provided that the outstanding total indebtedness of the Organization at no time exceeds CAD 3.0 million during the triennium (A36-34).

• The 40th Session of the Assembly considered the WCF level and borrowing authority, and resolved, in Resolving Clause 2 of Assembly Resolution A40-31, that the level of the WCF should remain at USD 8.0 million, and that, should the Council determine that it is warranted, the Council shall establish the WCF at a level no higher than USD 10.0 million.

• With the current level of the WCF at USD 8.0 million, and considering the trend of the exchange rate between USD and CAD in recent years, the cash in WCF could cover one month’s disbursements.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The status of the cash position for the past three-year period is summarized in the table below: in thousands of Canadian dollars 2019 2020 2021 Cumulative Surplus 12 115 14 614 16 211 Less: Assessed contributions receivable from Member States (27 704) (14 792) (27 193) Cash Deficit (15 589) ( 178) (10 982) Given that the cash position as at 31 December 2021 showed a deficit, Financial Regulation and Resolving Clause 3 of the Assembly Resolution A26-23 on cash surplus distribution, do not apply.

• The working paper provides information on the status of the cash deficit as at 31 December 2021 and illustrates that there is no cash surplus available for distribution but rather, a deficit as at that date.

• In accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), regardless of whether or not the assessments are paid by the Member States, these contributions are recognized as revenue at the beginning of the year for which the assessments are levied.

• This working paper is presented to the Assembly to inform on the cash position, and the Council’s recommendation as to the distribution or recovery of the cash surplus/deficit in accordance with Financial Regulation 6.2, 6.3 and Assembly Resolution A26-23.

• The deficit as at 31 December 2021 is considered to be temporary and may be eliminated by the immediate payment of assessments in arrears by Member States.

• Therefore, it is not proposed to the Assembly to assess Member States for the deficit as per Financial Regulation 6.3.

• The cumulative surplus, excluding reserves and the Working Capital Fund, in Net Assets for the General Fund at 31 December 2021 amounted to CAD 16.2 million.

• Taking into consideration the above, the cash position as at 31 December 2021 showed a deficit of CAD 11.0 million (2018: CAD 6.3 million).

• The receivable balance is comprised of CAD 15.6 million relating to the 2021 assessments, and CAD 11.6 million reflecting 2020 and prior years’ arrears.

• In this regard and consistent with Financial Regulation 6.3, the cumulative surplus needs to be further adjusted by assessments receivable.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Doc 10140, Assembly Resolutions in Force (as of 4 October 2019)

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• These changes would bring the contents into closer alignment with equivalent Articles in the Financial Regulations of other UN Organizations, and would reinforce their general applicability to all sources of funding and programme activity.

• The revision proposal for Financial Regulation 10.2 would better reflect the current practice that the Secretary General may make short term investment of funds in excess of immediate requirements and shall periodically inform the Finance Committee on the status of such investments.

• Article XII Accounts and Financial Statements The proposed revision to Financial Regulation 12.1 refers to the use of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for financial reporting by ICAO, and adopted throughout the UN system.

• The current wording of Financial Regulation 4.3 suggests that Regular Budget Estimates, which are primarily sourced by assessed contributions from Member States, fully fund the ICAO Business Plan.

• The first edition of Doc 7515 was approved in 1956 when the ICAO Work Programme was almost exclusively funded by assessed contributions from Member States, and the focus of the Financial Regulations was on sound administration and oversight over the Regular Budget and related Appropriations and Provision of Funds.

• Likewise, the proposed modification to Financial Regulation 4.10 introduces the possibility of voting for the budget by new strategies and objectives related to the results-based management structure of the Business Plan.

• A new Financial Regulation 13.9 is proposed to formalize the application of the Single Audit Principle as part of a common internal control and audit framework, as recognized throughout the United Nations system organizations.

• There is also a reference added to the new proposed Financial Regulation 7.7.

• Additionally, it is proposed that additional elements of the control environment be added to Financial Regulation 11.1.

• It is also proposed to revise the heading in order to include Accountability along with a new Financial Regulation 1.2 clarifying the Secretary General’s role and delegated authority with regard to the financial activities of the Organization.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• Staff Costs 12 48 49 50 147 77 79 81 238 Total 746 1,121 1,144 1,172 3,437 838 1,005 1,131 2,974 * at UN Rate of Exchange, includes expenditure funded by carry‐over of unutilized appropriations from prior year Special Implementation Projects (SIP): resources required for implementation of special projects for the purpose of advising States on the implementation of parts of Regional Plans, which have significant effect on safety and efficiency.

• The Bureau of Administration and Services (ADB) is responsible for providing the administrative support required by the Organization relating to the following: human resources, languages and publications, information and communication technology and web management, conference, security and general services, registry, archives and distribution, travel services, procurement services, revenue‐generating activities, and Assembly and Council Secretariat.

• The Section is under Supporting Strategies ‐ Support to Strategic Objectives providing the Communications Services, but it performs functions and duties more commonly recognized as ‘public information’‐related in the UN system.

• ADB is showing the highest growth primarily due to the integration of Procurement services in the Regular Budget from TCB, centralization of the after‐service‐health insurance (ASHI) under HR and the inclusion of the newly proposed Transformational Objective initiatives, falling primarily under the management of the Bureau of Administration and Services.

• In particular, the SPCP is responsible for the developing and maintenance of the ICAO Business Plan, the ICAO Operating Plan, the Corporate Performance Management Framework, the Corporate Key Performance Indicators and the Risk Registry, which form the basis for resource allocation and assist the Secretariat to monitor its accountability and performance with respect to the implementation of initiatives.

• Through enhanced procurement services (PRO), ADB supports the operations of the Organization by achieving best value for money in all procurement activities undertaken in accordance with the ICAO Procurement Code, the ICAO Financial Rules and Regulations, and following best practices in the UN system, specifically in sustainability aspects.

• The SPCP is also focused on assisting Member States in enhancing their air transport systems by mobilizing resources to secure funding and development assistance in the form of financing, transfer of technology and expertise, leveraging strategic 84 ANNEX partnerships with major development partners and in developing policies, procedures and guidelines to coordinate ICAO response to worldwide emergencies that threaten the safety, regularity or continuity of aviation operations.

• ADB also provides comprehensive conference, security, and general services (CSG) solutions to ICAO from events and meetings management, building management, security services, business continuity management, travel services, to property control, logistics, and commissariat management.

• Cognisant of the wide‐ranging services delivered by ADB to cross‐cutting areas of operation of the Organization, the Bureau of Administration and Services is an organizational enabler that keeps ICAO on track in achieving its overall goals and programmes.

• The work of the Bureau increasingly focuses on the No Country Left Behind (NCLB) initiative by providing assistance to States, for example, in rectifying deficiencies identified by the USAP‐CMA, and implementing GASeP air transport policies and declarations, CORSIA and voluntary action plans for CO2 emissions reduction activities.

Click on one or more sentences to add to the summary. Click on sentences inside the summary to remove them.

• The External Auditors have provided the Auditor’s Report which contains an audit opinion on the Financial Statements of the Organization, without reservation, stating that the Financial Statements of the Organization for 2019 presented fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Organization as at 31 December 2019 and the results of its operations, and that the transactions of the Organization that came to their notice during their audit of the Financial Statements had, in all significant respects, been in accordance with the Organization’s Financial Regulations and legislative authority.

• On 13 November 2020, the Council reviewed the Financial Statements of the Organization for the financial year 2019, and the Audit Report thereon (Document 10167).

• The External Auditors produced a report which is presented in Part V under Addendum No. 2 entitled Report of the External Auditor to the Assembly on the Audit of the Financial Statements of the International Civil Aviation Organization for the Financial Year Ended 31 December 2019.

• This working paper presents the Financial Statements of ICAO for 2019 along with the External Auditor’s Report and opinion and the Secretary General’s comments.

• After careful consideration of the Financial Statements and the Report of the External Auditor to the Assembly as well as the Secretary General’s comments to the Report, the Council agreed to transmit the document and to recommend action to the Assembly as reflected in the Draft Resolution in the Appendix.