Tonga Vice Chair for IRENA 5th Preparatory Commission

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates:

At the culmination of an eventful 4th IRENA Preparatory Commission, Tonga was elected to vice-chair the 5th and final Preparatory Commission before IRENA becomes a fully-fledged international agency at its first Assembly in early April 2011. Tonga also for the first time, was given the responsibility to chair the Working Group on Legal issues, one of several remaining areas of work required before the first Assembly.

The Government of Tonga has been closely involved with the development of IRENA and has the distinction of having the Tonga Energy Road Map as the only activity undertaken during the 2010 work programme. Tonga has been involved in all working groups and has attended all of IRENA’s preparatory meetings since 2009.

The new positions of responsibility have been in recognition of the Kingdom of Tonga’s work in the energy sector under the TERM and its regional leadership in Renewable Energy policy and development.

5th Preparatory Commission

The 5th Preparatory Commission for IRENA will be the final meeting of signatory and ratified states to determine how the organisation will operate. Everything from a staff providence fund to the overall objective of the organisation is determined in this forum.The Working Group on Legal Issues was established to work on inter alia and the draft legal documents relating to financial rules and regulations, staff rules and regulations, regulations on secondment of staff and the staff provident fund.

Members of the Working Group include: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Chad, Djibouti, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Nigeria, Kenya, Romania, Tonga, the UAE, the UK and the USA

IRENA under new management

Also of note during the 4th Preparatory meeting was the resignation of Interim Director General Hellene Peloisse from her position in charge of the IRENA Secretariat. Ms Peloisse was instrumental in providing Technical Assistance to the TERM at a very early stage. Deputy Interim Director General Adnan Amin now takes over the reins until a permanent Director General is announced at the first Assembly of IRENA in April 2011.

ENDS

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