The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is an inter-governmental organisation founded on March 7, 1997. The vision for IORA was inspired by a visit from the late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa to India in 1995. This initiative led to the formation of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation, which later became IORA.
IORA’s highest decision-making body is the Council of Foreign Ministers (COM), which convenes annually. The United Arab Emirates chaired IORA from November 2019 to November 2021, followed by Bangladesh from November 2021 to November 2023. The Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) meets twice yearly to advance IORA’s agenda, considering recommendations from working groups and forums involving officials, businesses, and academics to implement policies and projects that improve lives within member states.
A primary focus of IORA is ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indian Ocean, in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), essential for regional prosperity and security. The IORA Action Plan 2022-27 outlines strategic goals for Maritime Safety and Security (MSS). This involves promoting MSS through coordination among member states and international organisations, sharing expertise and resources, addressing transboundary challenges, and ensuring freedom of navigation according to international law.
The Working Group for Maritime Safety and Security (WGMSS) facilitates regional cooperation by coordinating among stakeholders. The WGMSS develops and implements activities aligned with the IORA Action Plan 2022-27. Its objectives include building a collaborative MSS framework based on the needs of IORA’s 23 member states, establishing a common understanding of MSS risks and opportunities, fostering cooperation among member states and dialogue partners, defining standardised structures for coordination, enhancing existing regional mechanisms, advancing the MSS Blueprint, and coordinating with the IORA Working Group on Disaster Risk Management for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in the maritime domain.
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