ICAO
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Contents |
Mission
The ICAO or International Civil Aviation Organization is the global forum for civil aviation. ICAO works to achieve its vision of safe, secure and sustainable development of civil aviation through the cooperation of its member States.
History
Nearing the end of World War II it became apparent that civil air transport would play an important role in international relations. Serious discussions on civil aviation had already taken place mostly in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. On August 24, 1943 at a meeting hosted by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King at the Citadelle and the Château Frontenac in Quebec City, Canada, Roosevelt and Churchill discussed setting up an organization similar to the United Nations to deal with the aspects of civil aviation.
On September 11, 1944, the United States sent out an invitation to fifty-three governments and the Ministers of two nations in Washington (Danish and Thai) to attend an international civil aviation conference to be held in the United States on November 1, 1944.
This conference would become known as “The Chicago Conference” and was held at the Stevens Hotel in Chicago Illinois. It was attended by fifty-two nations and two observer nations (Denmark and Thailand). The Soviet Union refused to attend. The most important document to be draw up was the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
It was decided that the provisional ICAO would be located in Canada because of the war in Europe and the desire to start work immediately. The Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO) was established at the Chicago Conference and the Canadian Government chose Montreal, Quebec, Canada as the headquarters.
On December 8, 1944, the Conference elected 20 of 21 seats available to the Interim Council. One seat was left vacant for the USSR although they did not finally adhere to the Convention until 1970. On August 17, 1945 the Interim Council elected Dr. Edward Warner as the first President of the PICAO. He then continued as President of the ICAO Council until his retirement on 18 April 1957.
On June 6, 1946 Montreal was selected as the permanent headquarters of the Organization. Montreal was chosen because delegates described it as a roundabout of the international means of communication and a strategic center with a formidable economic, scientific, technical and aeronautical expansion. Further, the ICAO should be close to the central head office of the United Nations.
Politics
The ICAO Assembly is composed of members from the 36 States and meets every three years to review in detail the work of the Organization and set policy for the coming years and to establish the triennial budget. The assembly also elects the Council, the governing body for a three-year term.
The Council reviews the proposals of the Air Navigation Commission and adopts the amendment to the Annex if two-thirds of the members are in favour.
Strategic Objectives
The Organization has established the following Strategic Objectives for the period 2005-2010:
1. Safety - Enhance global civil aviation safety
2. Security - Enhance global civil aviation security
3. Environmental Protection - Minimize the adverse effect of global civil aviation on the environment
4. Efficiency - Enhance the efficiency of aviation operations
5. Continuity - Maintain the continuity of aviation operations
6. Rule of Law - Strengthen law governing international civil aviation
