Assembly/AU/Dec.496(XXII) Page 2 8. ALSO DECIDES to adopt the 2050 AIM Strategic Plan of Action; 9. FURTHER DECIDES to retain the 2015-2025 decade as the "Decade of African Seas and Oceans”, and the date of 25 July as the African Day of Seas and Oceans; 10. UNDERSCORES that the 2050 AIM Strategy requires, at Member State level, inter-agency collaboration to address the challenges and opportunities in the African maritime domain and enhance transborder and sub-regional cooperation; 11. ALSO STRESSES the need to build strategic partnerships that support initiatives inherent in the implementation of the 2050 AIM Strategy; 12. REQUESTS the Commission to facilitate the establishment of the Strategic Special Task Force to prepare the technical details in view of the early implementation of the strategy AIM 2050 Combined Maritime Exclusive Zone in conformity with International Maritime Conventions and Laws; 13. UNDERSCORES the importance of reinforcing the capacity of Member States to manage their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) as an important building block towards implementing the Combined Maritime Exclusive Zone; 14. CALLS ON Member States that have not yet done so to become parties to all relevant international instruments including the Revised Charter on Maritime Transport; 15. INVITES Regional Economic Communities and regional mechanisms to develop and adopt a regional strategy against piracy, armed robbery and other illegal activities committed at sea, consistent with the 2050 AIM Strategy; 16. REQUESTS the Chairperson of the Union and the Chairperson of the Commission to undertake consultations with Regional Economic Communities/Mechanisms to spur adherence and garner the widest possible support for the implementation of the 2050 AIM Strategy; 17. URGES the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization, the International Seabed Authority and the Chairperson of the AU Commission to support efforts to mobilize the necessary resources for the implementation of this Decision; 18. REQUESTS the Commission, within the framework of implementation, to carry out an evaluation of the structural and financial implications of the Strategy and report thereon to the next session of the Assembly in June 2014.