Assembly/AU/Dec.496(XXII) Page 1 DECISION ON THE ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2050 AFRICA’S INTEGRATED MARITIME STRATEGY (2050 AIM STRATEGY) Doc. Assembly/AU/16(XXII) Add.1 The Assembly, 1. REITERATES the geostrategic importance of seas and oceans in the socioeconomic development of Africa; 2. RECALLS the Declaration of the Fiftieth (50th) Anniversary of the OAU/AU in which the Heads of State and Government expressed their commitment to preserve, protect and use oceanic spaces and resources to the benefit the African continent and its populations with a view to achieving sustainable food security; 3. ALSO RECALLS the decision Assembly/AU/Dec.252 (XIII) adopted by the Thirteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union held in July 2009 in Sirte (Libya) and in which the Assembly expressed serious concern at the growing insecurity in the African maritime space, and welcomed the initiatives taken by the Commission to develop a comprehensive and coherent strategy to handle the challenges and opportunities related to the maritime area of Africa; 4. FURTHER RECALLS the decision of the Fifteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly held in July 2010 in Kampala (Uganda) [Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.294 (XV) ] by which the Assembly reaffirmed its support for efforts to this effect by the Commission, including the development of an Integrated Maritime Management Strategy for the continent; 5. FINALLY RECALLS the Communiqué of the 387th Session of the Ministerial meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council which held on 29 th July 2013 in Addis Ababa, by which the Council endorsed the Solemn Declaration on Maritime Safety and Security proclaimed at the Yaounde (Cameroon) Summit of 24 to 25 June 2013 by Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) and dubbed the Blue/Ocean Economy, in the 2050 AIM Strategy and conceived therein as the "new frontier of African Renaissance"; 6. ENDORSES the Addis Ababa Declaration adopted on 6 December 2012 at the Second Conference of African Ministers in charge of Maritime-related Affairs, in which the Ministers adopted the 2050 AIM Strategy and its Plan of Action 7. RECOGNIZES that Africa’s oceans and seas are essential to the sustainable development of the Continent and that they occupy a critical position within the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ;