UNESCO, as well as IOC, lends financial support to such organiza- 

 tions as SCOR, which in turn offer scientific advice on specific 

 research aspects of UNESCO's and IOC's programs. They also provide 

 financial support to other international organizations by helping 

 pay travel expenses of scientists from developing countries who 

 attend s5miposia and conferences. 



Under its publications program the Division of Marine Sciences 

 issues a quarterly title, the International Marine Science (IMS) 

 Newsletter to inform scientists and administrators of recent develop- 

 ments in marine science activities of U.N. agencies. 



UNESCO also supports Regional Offices of Science and Technology 

 (ROST). Two in particular, the Regional Office of Science and Tech- 

 nology for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROSTLAC) , formerly called 

 the Regional Office of Science and Technology for Latin America 

 (ROSTLA) and before that the Latin American Science Cooperation 

 Office (LASCO) and that for Southeast Asia (ROSTSEA) , formerly called 

 the Southeast Asia Science Cooperation Office (SEASCO), have partici- 

 pated in the development of plans for oceanographic programs in their 

 respective regions. Other regional offices are Africa (ROSTA) , the 

 Arab States (ROSTAS), and South and Central Asia (ROSTSCA). UNESCO 

 is responsible also for organizing Conferences of Ministers Respons- 

 ible for the Application of Science and Technology to the Development 

 of the Arab States (CASTARAB), of Asia (CASTASIA), and of Africa 

 (CASTAFRICA). 



22. INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION: IOC 



The 1960 Intergovernmental Conference on Oceanographic Research 

 (ICOR), sponsored by UNESCO, included a recommendation for the estab- 

 lishment of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to 

 act as the international body responsible for coordination of all 

 scientific investigations of the oceans by the states concerned and 

 the international organizations, IOC was established later in 1960 

 by the General Conference of UNESCO and held its first session in 

 October 1961. 



The Assembly of IOC, which now includes members from 101 nations, 

 meets every 2 years. Before 1971, its policy and programing activi- 

 ties were handled between sessions by the Bureau and Consultative 

 Council (lOC/BCC); since a reorganization in 1971, the Consultative 

 Council has been discontinued and an elected Executive Council 

 (lOC/EC) comprising a chairman, four vice-chairmen, and eight dele- 

 gates from member states performs these functions. In 1975 it estab- 

 lished a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to improve its ocean science 

 activities and develop priorities to avoid spreading its limited 

 resources too thinly. Originally established for a 2-year experi- 

 mental period, the life of SAB was extended for another 2-year period 

 until IOC held its Uth session in October and November 1979. At 

 that meeting, IOC established a Scientific Review Board (SRB) to 

 replace SAB. 



Other activities of IOC are handled by working committees, inter- 

 national coordination groups, and groups of experts. Among these, 

 the Group of Experts on Long-Term Scientific Policy and Planning 

 (GELTSPAP), now abolished, was established in 1969 to develop the 

 scope, content, and criteria for the assignment of priorities for 

 the Long-Term and Expanded Program of Odeanic Exploration and Re- 

 search (LEPOR) and to find ways of interrelating projects relevant 

 to LEPOR that are being conducted by other international bodies. 

 A Working Group of Experts on Pollution of the Ocean Originating on 

 Land (POOL), established in 1974 as part of the Global Investigations 

 of Pollution in the Marine Environment (GIPME) , was dissolved in 1975 



