MANDATES OF THE COMMISSIONS Mandate of the Commission on Gender and Cartography To serve as a resource on issues related to gender and cartography. To facilitate professional contacts between cartographers in the international community. To enhance professional development opportunities for the ICA target groups (women, young cartographers and cartographers from developing nations.) To propose mechanisms which will ensure that equal opportunities exist within the ICA for all components groups. Mandate of the Commission on National and Regional Atlases Promote and support the design, production and use of atlases and atlas information systems by: demonstrating design and production applications of national and regional atlas organizations; publishing guidelines and recommendations for the production of global, national and regional atlases Explore and develop new tools for atlas design, creation and dissemination by: encouraging exploration and implementation of new atlas design concepts; a multimedia approach to access geographic information; evaluation of CD-ROM, on-line services and other formats for dissemination of integrated geographical data.