[PEMSEA] PEMSEA New Executive Director
PEMSEA New Executive Director
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the East
Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council have named Professor Raphael P. M.
Lotilla as the new Regional Programme Director of the PEMSEA Regional
Programme and the Executive Director of the PEMSEA Resource Facility
beginning May 2008.
Prof. Lotilla brings with him 22 years of experience in
multidisciplinary, multiagency, and multistakeholder partnerships in a
national and regional context. He served in the Philippine government
as the Secretary of Energy from 2005 to 2007, where he steered the
government's energy independence and power sector reform agenda.
As Undersecretary for the National Economic Development Authority of
the Philippines (1996-2003), he served as Coordinator of the Philippine
Council for Sustainable Development and led a multistakeholder process
in the formulation of Philippine Agenda 21.
Prof. Lotilla leads PEMSEA towards achieving its priority targets to
2015 which includes strengthening coastal and ocean governance through
national policy and program transformation in at least 70 percent of
PEMSEA participating countries; and advancing sustainable development
of coastal lands and waters in at least 20 percent of the region’s
coastline though integrated coastal management (ICM) program
implementation.
Prof. Lotilla began his academic career in law at the University of the
Philippines (UP) in 1985 and served as Director of the Institute of
International Legal Studies of the UP Law Center and Vice-President for
Public Affairs. He was appointed Professor of Law in 1995. Prof.
Lotilla earned his undergraduate degrees in Psychology and History, a
Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines, and a
Master of Laws degree from the University of Michigan Law School. As
law professor, he taught courses including Constitutional Law,
International Law, International Economic Law, the Law of the Sea and
Citizenship. He also taught Treaties and Other International Agreements
at the Ateneo de Manila University Law School shortly after he resigned
from the Cabinet. Prof. Lotilla has participated in regional
initiatives on ocean policy and regional cooperation.
About PEMSEA
PEMSEA was first established in 1993 as the Regional Programme on
the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian
Seas. In 1999, it entered its second phase as the Regional Programme on
Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia.
PEMSEA was transformed from a project-based initiative into a regional
coordinating mechanism for the implementation of the SDS-SEA in
December 2006. Participating countries of PEMSEA are Cambodia,
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Republic
of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
The objective of PEMSEA is to coordinate and support the efforts of
participating governments and non-state partners to develop and manage
the coastal and marine environment and resources of the Seas of East
Asia in a sustainable manner in accordance with the Sustainable
Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA). The SDS-SEA
was adapted by participating countries in 2003, as their common
framework for managing marine and coastal resources sustainably, as
well as a platform for intergovernmental and multisectoral cooperation.
PEMSEA receives financial support from the Global Environment Facility
through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as the executing
agency.