The General Assembly decided, in its resolution 68/70 of 9 December 2013, that the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel/Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea would be the focal point of UN-Oceans.

In that capacity, the United Nations Legal Counsel/Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea:

• Convenes the meetings of UN-Oceans and organizes those meetings, including by preparing and disseminating meeting minutes, reports and background documents;

• Facilitates communication among UN-Oceans participants;

• Maintains and updates information about UN-Oceans activities, makes this information available to UN-Oceans participants and United Nations Member States and makes it publicly available through the UN-Oceans website; and

• Represents UN-Oceans at relevant meetings, including those under the General Assembly and those of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination and its High-level Committee on Programmes.