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INTERNATIONAL

ICDO with the support of the Swiss FOCP. defence staff, junior professionals, train- opment and Cooperation (SDC). The
This warehouse will not only strengthen ers of trainers, government officials and ICDO Secretary-General has conducted
the potential of the Ministry of Emer- other decision-makers, public informa- meetings in Geneva with Ambassador
gency Situations of Kyrgyzstan to prevent tion officers, volunteers, youth and the Manuel Bessler, deputy director of SDC,
and mitigate emergency situations in the general public. The programme supports responsible for humanitarian aid. It can
country, but will also benefit Central Asian a wide variety of educational forums, in- be seen that years of fruitful cooperation
countries in case of disaster. On 20 Octo- cluding conferences, workshops, semi- between ICDO and Switzerland have led
ber 2015, the official handover ceremony nars, field exercises and e-learning. to very impressive results. Relations be-
of emergency equipment for the manage- tween ICDO and civil protection struc-
ment of natural disasters in Kyrgyzstan Topics are chosen by ICDO within the tures of Switzerland can be described as
took place in the city of Osh. The Ambas- framework of the organization's annual effective and reliable partnership.
sador of Switzerland to the Kyrgyz Re- programme and cover a broad range of
public, H.E. René Holenstein, the State- subjects, from technical skills (such as ICDO Strategic
Secretary of the Ministry of Emergency fire-fighting and underwater or moun- Development Programme,
Situations of Kyrgyzstan, Mr Taalaybek tain rescue) to the use of new technolo- 2015-2025
Temiraliev, the ICDO representative as gies, team-building, disaster medicine ICDO and its Member States feel that
well as members of different interna- and psychological training. they also have a special responsibility to
tional organizations in the city of Osh prepare civil society to better respond to
participated in the ceremony. The next For many years ICDO and the Swiss disasters, as well as to introduce modern
warehouse is planned for Togo in West FOCP have been carrying out a pro- information systems for disaster preven-
Africa. gramme together that permits civil pro- tion. For this purpose, ICDO has adopt-
tection workers from different countries ed a Strategic Development Programme,
The creation of these warehouses was to be trained. Training courses take place 2015-2025. The aim of all of measures
acclaimed by all ICDO Member States. at the Schwarzenburg Federal Training that are included in the programme is
The EMERCOM of Russia has taken a Centre (FTCS), a division of FOCP. The to help ICDO and its Member States to
decision also to contribute to the devel- FTCS is a training centre for different lev- fight natural and man-made disasters
opment of this project by supplying fire- els of civil protection specialists, as well more effectively. In June 2015 an Inter-
fighting equipment to the Kyrgyzstan as security policy specialists from civil national Monitoring and Coordination
warehouse. Other countries are contem- defence organizations in ICDO Member Centre (IMCC) opened at the ICDO
plating joining the project. States. It hosts national and international headquarters in Geneva. The IMCC is a
events that provide a platform for en- tool to enable updated risk assessment
The technical assistance programme, counters between civil defence personnel and mapping in ICDO Member States.
developed by ICDO in partnership with from Switzerland and abroad. Its ultimate goal is to help better protect
Swiss federal offices, has been highly ap- the population, property and the envi-
preciated by ICDO Member States and In May2015 an important training course ronment. The opening of the centre is a
the beneficiary countries. The Secretariat for senior civil protection officials was landmark in the history of ICDO. This
of ICDO in Geneva regularly receives let- held in FTCS on the topic of "Civil pro- is the first step towards creating a man-
ters from different countries that benefit- tection and leadership training' ICDO agement information system, which will
ed from this programme in which they also invites Swiss experts to participate become the basis for establishing an in-
express their gratitude for the assistance. in training courses organized in different ternational network of centres under the
Recently, for example, ICDO received countries. During 2015 there were sev- auspices of ICDO to combat disasters.
letters from Georgia, Senegal, Togo, eral very useful courses held in Russia,
Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Lebanon. Belorussia, China and Kyrgyzstan. Today, the International Civil Defence
It could be said that ICDO's technical Organization is developing rapidly and
assistance programme realized with the Secretary-General Kuvshinov is paying becoming one of the leading interna-
help of Switzerland since 2002 has been a great deal of attention to strengthening tional organizations contributing to the
a success! ICDO ties with the Swiss civil protection creation of the effective national civil
services and meets FOCP senior staff in protection services. The support of all
Training programmes Berne on a regular basis. In 2015 he met ICDO Member and Observer States
The ICDO educational and training pro- Benno Bühlmann, Director-General of is vital for further continuation of its
grammes in the field of civil defence and FOCP to discuss ways and means of fur- technical assistance and training pro-
civil protection cover all aspects of pre- ther developing this cooperation. grammes. ICDO hopes that cooperation
vention, response and rehabilitation with with Switzerland will continue in the fu-
respect to natural and man-made disas- ICDO also maintains very good rela- ture with the ultimate goal of creating a
ters. Training is targeted for senior civil tions with the Swiss Agency for Devel- safer and more sustainable world.

16 DIVA . INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT