The 8th Meeting of the IHO Council was held in Monaco from 15 to 17 October 2024. Croatia, represented by the HHI Director Vinka Kolić Bubić, participated in the meeting for the second time as permanent Council member (in a three-year period).
This year, a record number of 130 participants representing Member States, Observers, and partner organizations, attended the Council Meeting.
The Council is the main operational body of the IHO, which during the inter-Assembly period implements the Assembly decisions, adopts the IHO annual work and financial plans, coordinates the implementation of three work programmes and the work of two committees, analyses the implementation of strategic goals, and brings forward proposals for consideration by the Assembly.
According to the agenda, the 8th Council Meeting discussed regular issues pursuant to the Council rules of procedure. Besides usual topics and reports related to the implementation of last year’s Council decisions as well as the IHO Strategic Plan 2021–2026, the IHO Work Programme and Budget for 2025, and the IHO Annual Report 2023, the Meeting focused particularly on implementation of the S-100 Universal Hydrographic Data Model, as the basis for development of the IMO e-Navigation concept, and adoption of the new version of Roadmap for the S-100 Implementation Decade.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the Council continues to support the programme on gender equality, resulting from the Empowering Women in Hydrography Project, and underlines the importance of further increasing the share of women in hydrography, encouraging initiatives supporting their professional development and mentoring.
In addition, the Council supported the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, emphasizing Member States’ contribution to the development of this programme, as well as development of specific impact indicators measuring this contribution. The Council also supported the initiative to accept DEPTH as a new essential variable to facilitate monitoring and understanding the ocean state. It also agreed on the IHO participation at the Blue Economy and Finance Forum 2025 in Monaco and the UN Ocean Conference 2025 in Nice, encouraging Member States to join national delegations early enough to ensure better coordination.
These topics show the IHO commitment to strengthening global cooperation in ocean governance and sustainable development.