Adopted by Decision A-32/4.3 of the IOC Assembly at its 32nd session (Paris, 21–30 June 2023), the vision and mission statements of the IOC Capacity Development Strategy (2023–2030) identifies capacity development as the primary catalyst by which the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO will achieve its five high levels objectives in the current IOC Medium-Term Strategy (2022–2029) (IOC/INF-1412). The strategy retains the six outputs and expands its associated activities and actions from the 2015–2021 IOC Capacity Development Strategy, given that it’s recognised that their application supports not only IOC’s capacity development ambitions but also those included in other frameworks such as the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030).