he United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is pleased to convene the 2026 edition of the African Maritime Governance Forum: Advancing Maritime Security through the Yaoundé Architecture, the Djibouti Code of Conduct and Inclusive Maritime Governance, a two-day, implementation-oriented platform for governments, regional organisations and partners working across maritime security, maritime governance and the Blue Economy. The Forum will take place in Dakar, Senegal, on 14–15 December 2026, with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office.

Africa’s maritime domain underpins trade, regional integration, coastal livelihoods and sustainable Blue Economy development. Across the Gulf of Guinea, the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean, evolving security risks also affect critical maritime infrastructure, including ports, subsea communications cables, offshore energy installations, pipelines and strategically important shipping routes. Physical, cyber and hybrid threats call for coordinated approaches to risk assessment, maritime surveillance, preparedness and resilience, alongside sound governance and environmental stewardship.

Africa has already laid important foundations. The Yaoundé Architecture (‘YA’), including the Yaoundé Code of Conduct (‘YCoC’), and the Djibouti Code of Conduct (‘DCoC’) are Africa’s two complementary regional maritime governance and security frameworks, and their complementary strengths offer a unique opportunity for closer cooperation, in full respect of their respective mandates and regional ownership. By facilitating the exchange of experiences, innovative approaches and lessons learned between the Gulf of Guinea and the Western Indian Ocean, the Forum aims to strengthen institutional cooperation, enhance Maritime Domain Awareness (‘MDA’) and maritime surveillance, reinforce the protection of critical maritime infrastructure, promote legal and policy coherence and support sustainable capacity development, contributing to the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (‘2050 AIM Strategy’) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (‘SDGs’).

The Forum builds on the momentum of previous African maritime conferences, in particular the 2025 Conference on Maritime Security in Accra, convened by UNITAR. Its guiding question is a practical one: how can political dialogue be translated into implementation? The Forum will take stock of progress on the Accra recommendations, identify outstanding challenges and agree on a limited number of regional priorities. Particular attention will be given to the ongoing review of the YCoC within the wider YA, and to practical cooperation with the DCoC. The review remains under the leadership and decision-making authority of the relevant African institutions; the Forum will not seek to endorse or adopt revisions.

Recognising that maritime governance extends well beyond the maritime security sector, the Forum adopts a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, creating a platform for dialogue across institutional and sectoral boundaries. Rather than a broad survey of maritime security issues, it will connect regional policy priorities with operational experience and targeted partnerships, with a view to producing a short, actionable set of follow-up measures.