NEWS

Seychelles Minister of Foreign Affairs leads delegation at the Golden Spear Regional Disaster Preparedness Initiative held in Djibouti from the 5th to 8th November 2007

Minister Patrick Pillay was leading a delegation of two government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Risk and Disaster Management.

The group was invited to attend the Ministerial Symposium and Conference in Djibouti, a Golden Spear initiative supported by the US Central Command and signatory African Regional member countries.

The symposium gave Minister Pillay the chance to have one to one discussions with top US Military Officials mainly Major Attshurere and Admiral Payne who is responsible for US Central Command for the region and who are engaged in the Implementation of civil projects in the Seychellois Communities; notably the construction of retaining wall at La Digue and reconstruction of the mortuary at the Baie Ste Anne Hospital.

Minister Pillay also met other Ministers responsible for Disaster Risk Management from countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Egypt.

The main aim of the conference was to formalize the setting up and management of the Regional Centre for Excellence in Disaster Management which is located in Nairobi, Kenya.

The centre will coordinate and provide assistance in early warning and timely responses to its member countries, Seychelles included.

It will also facilitate and organize trainings in preparedness, response and mitigation.

It was the President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar GUELLEH who officially launched the conference.

In his opening address President Guelleh called on countries in the region to join hands and work together towards reducing disaster risk and be better prepared for eventual Disasters.

One of the highlights of the symposium, was the resolution tabled by Seychelles to include the other members of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) into the Golden Spear initiative.

It is to be recalled that while Seychelles is the only member of the IOC to be a member of the Golden Spear Regional Disaster Preparedness Initiative, President Michel as the current head of the IOC in 2007 has indicated that we should take every step to ensure that the ties between the IOC members are strengthened and we increase the visibility of the IOC as a regional organization on the international scene.

To this end, the Seychellois Minister of Foreign Affairs has invited the current Chairperson as well as the outgoing Chairperson of the Golden Spear initiative to address the next meeting of the IOC Ministers to be held in Seychelles in the first quarter of 2008.

The Seychellois delegation at the conference comprised of Minister Pillay and Miss Marie-Angelle Antat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr James Chang-Tave, the Director for Disaster Mitigation and Risk Impact Assessment from the Department of Risk and Disaster Management.

The Department of Risk and Disaster Management has benefited from the Golden Spear Initiative through donation of telecommunications equipment to the value of 300 000 US dollars and training.

The country will soon be considering the issue of ratification of the Golden Spear "Agreement Establishing the Regional Disaster Management Centre of Excellence".

 
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