Council and Bureau

IHP Intergovernmental Council

The planning, definition of priorities, and supervision of the execution of IHP are ensured by the Intergovernmental Council. The Council is composed of 36 UNESCO Member States elected by the General Conference of UNESCO at its ordinary sessions held every two years. Equitable geographical distribution and appropriate rotation of the representatives of the Member States are ensured in the composition of the Council. Each of UNESCO’s six electoral regions elects Member States for membership in the Council.

The term of office of members of the Council is four years, and members are immediately eligible for re-election. To retain continuity, only half of the Council members are elected each second year for the four-year period, so that in each biennium half are newcomers and the other half have already acquired experience. The Council normally meets in plenary session once every two years. Extraordinary sessions may be convened under the conditions specified in the Rules of Procedure.

IHP Bureau

At the beginning of its first session following a session of the General Conference at which elections to the IHP Council have been held, the Council elects a chairperson and four vice-chairpersons. These, with the chairperson of the previous Bureau as ex-officio member, constitute the Council’s Bureau. The composition of the Bureau so formed reflects an equitable geographical distribution, each representing UNESCO’s six electoral regions. The members of the Bureau remain in office until a new Bureau has been elected.

The IHP Bureau discharges, inter alia, the following duties:

  • fix, in consultation with the Secretariat, the dates of the sessions of the Council and of its committees and working groups, in accordance with the general guidelines of the Council;
  • prepare the sessions of the Council, in consultation with the Secretariat;
  • supervise the implementation of the resolutions of the Council, and report at each session of the Council, on the status of implementation of the prescribed phases of project execution and, in particular, follow the activities of the Council’s committees and working groups;
  • prepare for the Council all reports requested by the General Conference of UNESCO;
  • discharge all other duties which it may be assigned by the Council.

Composition of the IHP Bureau (2012-2014)

Chairperson

Mr Johannes Cullmann (Group I - Europe and North America)
Director of German National Commission’s Secretariat for UNESCO IHP
IHP/HWRP – Secretariat
Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG)
Am Mainzer Tor 1
56068 Koblenz
Germany
Tel: + 49 261 13 06 53 13
Fax: + 49 261 13 06 54 22
Email:  cullmann(at)bafg.de

Vice-Chairpersons

Mr Jovan Despotovic (Group II - Eastern and Central Europe)
President of the IHP National Committee for Serbia
Faculty of Civil Engineering - Belgrade
Boulevard of the King Alexander 73
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
Tel: + 381 11 337 00 99
Fax: + 381 11 337 02 06
Email: jdespotovic(at)grf.bg.ac.rs
Email: ihp.unesco.rs(at)grf.bg.ac.rs

Mr Polioptro F. Martinez Austria (Group III - Latin America and the Caribbean)
Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP)
Sta. Catarina Mártir. Cholula, Puebla
C.P. 72810
México
Email: polioptro.martinez(at)udlap.mx

Mr Soontak Lee (Group IV - Asia and the Pacific)
Chair of Korea IHP National Committee
Yeungnam University
487-1 Daemyung 9 Dong Namgu
705-804 Daegu
Republic of Korea
Tel: + 82 53 656 2525
Fax: + 82 53 656 2580
Email: leest(at)yu.ac.kr
Email: soontaklee(at)hanafos.com

Mr Juma Chrispine Omondi (Group Va - Africa)
Chief Principal Water Research Officer
Ministry of Water and Irrigation
PO Box 49720 – 00100
Ngong Road Nairobi
Kenya
Private PO Box 17010 – 00510
Tel: + 254 722 79 12 30 (mobile)
Email: cojuma2004(at)yahoo.com

Mr Mohamed Elhassan Eltayeb Elhag (Group Vb - Arab States)
Chairman of the IHP National Committee of Sudan
c/o Sudanese National Commission for Education, Science and Culture
PO Box 2324 Khartoum
Sudan
Tel: + 249 912 135970; + 249 912 119778 (via National Commission)
Email: sudanNatcom(at)hotmail.com
Email: wafaa_natcom2009(at)yahoo.com
Email: elhassaneltayeb(at)yahoo.com

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