Norway is contributing USD 1 million to a UN voluntary trust fund

Norway has just contributed USD 1 million to a voluntary trust fund set up last autumn at the 55 ^th> UN General Assembly in connection with the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

The fund is a Norwegian initiative. According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal states must establish the outer limits of their continental shelf within 10 years after acceding to the convention. For a number of developing countries, this deadline will expire as early as 2004. The purpose of the fund is to assist developing countries in determining whether they have a continental shelf that extends beyond 200 nautical miles, and, if so, in identifying the complexity and scale of the necessary programme for doing this. In some cases the area concerned may be of considerable economic value to a particular country. The countries themselves must apply to the United Nations for financial assistance from the fund.

Minister of International Development Sydnes says that this is an important matter for Norway, as it is clearly in Norway’s interests that developing countries are in a position to safeguard their rights under the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Norway will make a submission concerning its own continental shelf by 2006. Our country is in a good position to help other countries in preparing their submissions, for example through capacity and competence-building measures.