The regional Office for the prevention of risks of nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical (NRBC) for the countries bordering the atlantic coast of Africa was inaugurated on Tuesday at the headquarters of the general Directorate of civil protection in Rabat.
Within the framework of the initiative of the centers of excellence (Coe), european Union (EU) that aims to mitigate CBRN risk, the regional office's mission is the coordination of the activities related to this initiative by working in conjunction with the national focal points of the countries associated with them, but also between other donors, and international organizations. Launched in may 2010, this european initiative aims to develop a common approach to the prevention of CBRN risk that they are of criminal origin (proliferation, theft, traffic, etc), accidental (industrial disaster, treatment and transport of waste) or natural (pandemics) and to structure the technical assistance of the EU in this field, through a global network of regional centres of excellence, funding and implementation of numerous projects in third countries.
Speaking on this occasion, the minister delegate for foreign Affairs and cooperation, Youssef Amrani, stressed that this initiative is today an important step in the consecration of the strategic partnership between Morocco and Africa and a substantial contribution to the strengthening of international efforts for the mitigation of CBRN risk. "The dynamics of dialogue and consultation in advance with the EU for the establishment of the centre reflects the awareness of the threat exponential misuse and accidental use of substances CBRN whose impacts security so require, more than ever, optimum standards of safety and security", he said.
For his part, ambassador, head of the EU Delegation to Morocco, Eneko Landaburu, welcomed the initiative of morocco to create this center of excellence in Rabat which is intended to coordinate the efforts of several countries, with the support of EU funding, to reduce the risks of nuclear, chemical, radiological due to natural disasters or occurring accidentally". An initiative that reflects, according to Mr. Landaburu, the "remarkable collaboration" between Morocco and the EU. For the director of the regional CBRN Rabat, Mohamed Salami, this centre of excellence, which will be operational this week, aims to "strengthen the security cooperation between the countries concerned, including Mauritania, Senegal, Gabon and equatorial Guinea".
A demonstration of the various stages of the interventions of the elements of the civil protection moroccans, who have received customized and comprehensive training in the prevention of CBRN risk, took place on-site.
The initiative Crc CBRN EU involves dozens of countries around the world, grouped into eight regions, each with a regional office : central Asia, eastern and central Africa, the countries of the Gulf cooperation Council, the Middle East, the mediterranean coastline of North Africa, South East Asia, the South-eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, Moldova and Ukraine.
Implemented jointly by the joint research Centre (JRC) and the interregional Institute of research of the united Nations crime and justice (UNICRI), the initiative of the centers of excellence CBRN is placed under the aegis of the directorate general of the european Commission for the development, cooperation-EuropeAid (DG DEVCO) and the european Service for external action (EEAS). It unfolds with the technical support of relevant international and regional organizations, member States of the Union and other stakeholders, through consistent and effective cooperation at the national, regional and international.
This initiative is developed by the European Union with a budget of € 95 million for 2009-2013.
