This Extraordinary IHC will consider three reports and recommendations from working groups set up at the last ordinary Conference in 2007. There will also be a Member States' seminar on the topical subject of the status of global coverage of electronic navi-gational charts, as well as side meetings involving some IHO subsidiary bodies.

The Conference will firstly consider the report of the Working Group on Hydrography and Cartography in Inland Waters. Their report will confirm that there are many common elements of hydrographic and nautical cartographic practice that can apply both to maritime waters and inland waters where navigation takes place. The report will recommend a formal acknowledgement from the IHO in the form of a Resolution.

The next report and recommen-dations will deal with Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures (MSDI) and will advise the IHC on how the IHO can best serve its Member States in their role as one of the fundamental data providers in the maritime component of national and regional spatial data infrastructures that are now being established worldwide. One outcome will be the publication of an IHO document identifying possible roles of Hydrographic Offices (HOs) in MSDI and providing practical guidance on what steps are required to enable HOs to fulfil these roles.

The last report to be considered by the Conference will be submitted by the IHO Strategic Plan Working Group and concerns the ongoing revision of the IHO's organisation. In 2005, the IHO endorsed significant amendments to its governing Convention - including improve-ments to overall governance through the establishment of a Council, and simplification of the conditions under which new Member States may join the Organisation. The amendments to the IHO Convention are now being progressively ratified by Member States' governments - 22 approvals have been declared so far.

The Strategic Plan Working Group will propose new procedures for the development of the IHO Strategic Plan, which will more directly involve Member States through the IHO committee process. Another key element of the Working Group's proposals will be to propose a formal performance monitoring and reporting process to assess the risks associated with the IHO Work Programme and to measure the success of the outcomes.

The finale of the week-long series of events will be a celebration of World Hydrography Day. This year's theme is ‘Hydrography - Supporting Pro-tection of the Marine Environment'. The celebrations will highlight the many ways in which hydrography helps to minimise damage to the marine environment, from the obvious benefits of safe and reliable charts, to a better understanding of the dynamics of the ocean through the study of the shape and depth of the sea floor, to maritime boundary delimitation, and the allocation of appropriate exploitation and development licences. ü