The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an organ of the United Nations has just admitted Nigerian NGO, Friends of the Creators Artistic Foundation, FCF as a Permanent Observer.
The decision for the admission, which came in today at about 10:38am Nigerian time, was reached at the ongoing WIPO 59th Series of Meetings taking place in Geneva, with over 1,000 delegates from WIPO's 192 member States in attendance. The meeting is being watched and followed live by Citizens Court through through Webcast since September 30th.
According to WIPO, "once an observer is admitted to attend the meetings of the Assemblies, it is also invited to attend, in the same capacity, meetings of committees, working groups, or other bodies subsidiary to the Assemblies, if their subject matter seems to be of direct interest of the observer".
FCF, which was co-founded by Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo and Barr. Rockson Igelige, was formally incorporated in 2017, with headquarters in Oleh, Delta State, Nigeria. The objectives of the NGO are inter alia, to create awareness of copyright, to document intellectual property infringement cases in Nigeria and to promote intellectual property rights through campaigning, advocacies and other mediums. FCF, an award winning NGO has held the World Intellectual Property Day celebration in collaboration with Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) among others in Nigeria for three consecutive times.
Other NGOs admitted alongside FCF as Permanent Observers include the following international organizations: Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) - America; International Generic and Biosimilar medicine Association (IGBA) - Switzerland and Knowman Institute - Germany.
Others are the following national organizations: Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society Ltd (ALCS) - London, UK; Brand Protection Group (BPG) - Lebanon; Myanmar Intellectual Property Proprietors' Association (MIPPA) - Myanmar; Native American Rights Fund (NARF) - USA; and Professional Union of Broadcasting Organizations (RATEM) - Turkey.
Reacting to the development, the Secretary Board of Trustees and Co-founder of FCF, Barr. Rockson Igelige expresses delight, stating that the admission will not just make FCF stronger but also inspire the foundation to work harder in a bid to fulfill its core mandate. He thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nigerian Permanent Representative in Geneva and the Director General of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) for the critical role they played in ensuring the application of FCF is given due consideration.
For more updates click Citizenscourt.ng
0 Comments