Revised October 2001

GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATION OF REPORTS ON

SEMINARS, SYMPOSIA, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS AND SIMILAR EVENTS

1 Seminars, symposia, courses, workshops and other such events organized by IMO are designed to
further the Organization's purposes, which are stated in Article 1 of the IMO Convention, by promoting
wider and more effective implementation of the conventions, codes, guidelines, manuals and regulations
adopted under the auspices of the Organization.

2 Reports on such events constitute a permanent record and it is therefore particularly important
that they should provide a clear and concise indication of their objectives, content, conduct, cost and
usefulness. This will, in particular, assist in the subsequent evaluation of the events and enable the
Secretariat to benefit from the experience gained. Reports are intended not only for the Secretariat of
IMO and of any other organizations jointly sponsoring the events but also for distribution to the
administrations which nominated the participants.

Presentation

3 Reports should be presented between card or stiff paper covers, preferably typed on both sides of
the paper and should have a spiral or other binding such that the pages lie flat when the report is opened.
The cover should bear the logo and acronym or full name of IMO and of any other sponsoring
organizations, and should show the title of the event, the place where it was held and the dates.

4 A summary sheet, the format of which is attached at Annex I, should be completed and placed
immediately after the cover.

5 Where any part of the report includes lists of States or other geographical entities or contains
statistical or other information that might conceivably be regarded as expressing opinions on the legal
status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its
frontiers or boundaries, the following disclaimer should appear inside the front cover:

"The designation employed and the presentation of the material in this report and in the papers
contained in the annexes thereto do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the
part of the Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization concerning the legal status of
any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its
frontiers or boundaries".

The names of any other organizations involved on the same basis as IMO in sponsoring the event may
also appear in the disclaimer.

6 After the summary page, there should be a table of contents specifying the main sections of the
report, with an indication of the page on which each section begins together with a list of annexes.

7 Reports on such events should all be structured in a broadly similar manner and should, as a
minimum requirement, provide information as specified below.

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Structure of the report

8 Introduction

.1 Describe the context in which the event was organized. Include, particularly, the aims
and objectives of the relevant conventions, codes, guidelines etc., inter-governmental
directives, if any, a brief summary of IMO's activities in the field covered by the event,
problems encountered in the effective implementation of the conventions etc. and the
relevance of the event to the attainment of IMO's goals∗.

Objective

.2 Indicate concisely and clearly the objectives of the event.

Venue, dates, roles and participants

.3 Mention the venue and dates of the event.

.4 State if the event was organized by IMO. In the case of jointly organized events, state
clearly the roles of IMO and of others. Mention also the facilities provided by the host.

.5 Indicate the number of participants and, if appropriate, the number of countries

represented as well as how many of the participants were from governments, private
sector, etc.,

Cost

.6 Indicate the total cost and sources of funds. Provide the estimated cost of services and
material provided by IMO and cost of facilities provided by the host State *.

.7 Provide breakdown of expenditure on lecturers, participants, teaching materials, etc. *

Activities and proceedings

.8 Pre-seminar/symposium/workshop/course assignments. Mention the advice given to

participants in regard to the material they should read to familiarize themselves with the
requirements of concerned conventions, codes, etc., data/information to be obtained to
facilitate effective participation in group discussions. etc. *

.9 Opening ceremony. Briefly describe the ceremony and give the main points arising from
the opening statement. The full text of the statement may be annexed to the report.

.10 Describe concisely the proceedings. Include the names of lecturers, the subjects covered
by each, brief summary of the lecture, objective of each lecture or session, reference to
demonstration of equipment and group exercises/discussions and what the participants
were expected to gain from or be able to do after each lecture/session.

∗
If the report is to be prepared by a consultant, the IMO official organizing the event is responsible for providing
her/him with all the information necessary for compliance with the requirements specified in the guidelines.

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 Assessment and anticipated outcome

.11 Indicate the results of oral group assessment at the end of the event.

.12 State if all the participants returned the evaluation questionnaire duly completed. If not,
state what efforts were made to obtain the completed questionnaires from all
participants before they left the venue.

.13 Synthesize the data collected on each question through the questionnaires (parts I and II)
and write the conclusions which should cover the various aspects of the event, e.g.
administrative arrangements, equipment, documentary material, teaching aids, duration
and content, suggestions for inclusion of additional topics, performance of lecturers,
demonstration of equipment and group exercises, if any, usefulness of pre-event
assignments, fulfilment of the participants' expectations, achievement of objective,
comments and suggestions for improvement of future activities, future assistance if any
required from IMO and other suggestions. In the unlikely event that this summary is
not included in the report, a brief explanation of the reasons why it is not included
should be mentioned in the report.

.14 Indicate the anticipated outcome on the basis of assessment by the co-ordinator and
lecturers. (Include comments on the quality and suitability of participants and where
appropriate e.g. model course evaluation, the material used and corrections to text, as well
as any other aspects of the event).

Closing ceremony

.15 Briefly mention the proceedings.

Achievements and conclusions

.16 Summarize the achievements and conclusions of the event.

Resolutions/Recommendations

.17 Summarize the recommendations/resolutions if any adopted at the event.

Follow-up action

.18 Indicate the follow-up action, if any, to be taken.

Annexes

.19 Attach the following to the report:

.1 List of participants and their contacting addresses including e-mail address. ∗

.2 List of lecturers and subjects covered by each.

.3 List of acronyms used in the report.

∗
If the report is to be prepared by a consultant, the IMO official organizing the event is responsible for providing
her/him with all information necessary for compliance with the requirements specified in the guidelines.

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 .4 Seminar/symposium/workshop/course programme.

.5 Pre seminar/symposium/workshop/course assignments.

.6 Opening statement.

.7 Reference material.

.8 Copies of certificates if any given.

.9 Synopsis of lectures.

________

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 Annex I

INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION

SUMMARY SHEET

Title of the seminar/course/workshop:

Host:

Venue and date:

Type: (global/regional/national)

Organized by: Supported by:

No. of participants and no. of countries:

_________________________________________________________________________________
Summary – (Give, in not more than 15 lines, a synopsis of objectives; assessment and anticipated
outcome; achievements and conclusions; resolutions and recommendations and follow-up action).

_________________________________________________________________________________
Key words:

Report ref.:

Co-ordinator:

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