Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Monday, March 31st 2014 [ME NewsWire]

The one-day International Conference on Security Challenges, organized by the Ministry of Interior in cooperation with Reed Exhibitions, kicked off today, Monday, at the Armed Forces Officers Club. The event is a part of the activities organized under the International Conference for Security and National Resilience (ISNR Abu Dhabi 2014).

The opening ceremony was attended by H.E Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; Lt. General Saif Abdullah Al Sha’far, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior; Major General Staff Dr. Obeid Al Kutbi, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Police and Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee of ISNR Abu Dhabi 2014; and Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Civil Defense Acting General Commander-in-chief. Also attending were a number of police chiefs, global officials and members of the diplomatic corps; world-renowned experts; and a large number of officers at the Ministry of Interior.

In his welcome speech at the opening ceremony, Lt. General Al Sha’far conveyed the greetings of Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, to all participants at the conference as well as his wishes of success. Lt. General Al Sha’far also welcomed the prominent experts, academics and the professionals who were keen to attend this event, in order to review the best international practices in security and safety measures as well as tactical approaches to combating and preventing crime.

Lt. General Al Sha’far said: “Organizing this conference in the UAE reflects the vision, the ambition and the aspirations of the higher leadership to make the UAE one of the best countries in the world in terms of safety and security. It also reflects the world’s confidence in the prominent level attained by our country in organizing international scientific conferences. This conference demonstrates our keenness to be efficient partners and to cooperate and communicate with other friendly and sister countries, in order to face the challenges and combat all kind of crimes. We believe that combating crime is not an individual responsibility; it is a social collective responsibility that requires concerted efforts and resources to prevent crimes with all means and strategies, to achieve security and safety and support stability in the UAE and the world.”

“The United Arab Emirates makes diligent efforts on all levels to promote safety, security and peace of mind to all citizens and residents. This falls in line with the higher leadership’s instructions, and its vision and mission to serve security and world peace, not only in the UAE and the region but in the whole world,” added Lt. General Al Sha’far.

Adding further, Lt. General Al Sha’far said: “The security services offered by the UAE have become a role model to emulate by others. The International Conference on Security Challenges reflects the police leadership’s commitment to achieve more interaction and communication with experts and stakeholders in the regional and international security and safety fields. This conference tackles current and emerging global security challenges as well as the practices and approaches of combating security threats throughout the region and the world.”

At the end of his speech, Lt. General Al Sha’far expressed his hope that the conference will come up with the proper results and recommendations that serve security work and goals and that meet the coveted aspirations. “I would like to thank the organizers and the participants, and wish you all the best of luck and success, praying to God Almighty to gift us with security and safety,” he said.

The first work session was chaired by Lord John Reid, former British Secretary of State for Defense and founder and president of UCL Institute for Security and Resilience Studies. It included three work papers: the first paper was presented by Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, and discussed the “security challenges in light of the regional changes”. Dr. Gargash said that UAE has always been on quest to find the proper ways to maintain world peace and security. “The UAE higher leadership has given top priority to maintaining regional security and is well aware of its obligation towards both, its neighbors and the international community, in this matter,” Dr. Gargash said.

Dr. Gargash explained that the work paper highlights the guiding principles adopted by the UAE regarding regional security, as well as its unstinting efforts to maintain stability in the region. The paper also discussed the current challenges to regional security and the need for collaborative efforts to face them. It also tackled the future of regional security and the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the region. The second paper discussed “Strategic Approaches to Face Security Threats”, presented by Claude Baland, Director General of the French National Police, and Chief Daniel Linskey Superintendent-in-Chief, Boston Police, USA. The third work paper titled “Business Continuity Management in Crisis Situations” and was presented by Richard Reed, Senior Vice President at American Red Cross, USA, and Dr. Goh Moh Heng President BCM Institute (Singapore).

The second work session that was chaired by Major General Vincenzo Coppola, Commander, Mobile Units Division, Carabinieri Corps; Italy. The keynote topic discussed was “Contemporary Regional & Global Security Issues”, and included three work papers. The first work paper discussed “Event Security Planning and Management: Lessons Learned from Boston Marathon”. It was presented by Edward Connors, President of the Institute for Law and Justice (ILJ), USA, and Cindy Shain, Director of the Regional Community Policing Institute, USA. John deHooge, Ottawa Fire Chief, Canada, and Dr. Peter Wagner from the Computer Simulation Centre of Fire Statistics of CTIF, Berlin, Germany, presented the second work paper about “Proactive & Reactive Measures in Dealing with Major Fires”.

The third work paper was presented by Dr. Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General, European New Car Assessment Program, Belgium, and Britta Lang, Principal Road Safety Scientist, Transport Research Laboratory, UAE. It tackled the topic of “Vehicle Safety Standards & Driver Behavior”.

The keynote topic of the third session was the “Reactive Measures & Proactive Steps for Dealing with possible CBRN Issues, and the Recommended Preventive Measures in Post Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Crises. The session was chaired by Gwyn Winfield, Editorial Director, “CBRNe World” magazine, UK, with the participation of several experts and specialists. It was a group discussion session that addressed topics of security and safety and how to handle and prevent chemical and nuclear disasters.

In conclusion, Brigadier Saeed Salim Al Henki, Director General of Finance & Support Services, at the Ministry of Interior, and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the conference, expressed his heartfelt appreciation and thanks to the speakers, participants and experts for presenting such important work papers, and for their distinguished expertise in the field.

He added that the International Conference on Security Challenges (ICSC) is the result of diligent efforts to attract world-renowned experts and researchers, and become a key platform for police and security work. It also aims to reinforce the many contributions made by the UAE higher leadership in order to achieve a secure society, where all humans enjoy security, stability and peace, regardless of their color, gender, or race.

He added: “The topics that were tackled by the experts and researchers throughout the conference were of high importance, as they added value to this international gathering and achieved the expected results. The myriad topics have touched on many vital issues that require studying and follow-up from decision makers, on the research and institutional security levels, with the aim of improving security work and enhance proactive action to face challenges and reach a secure community.

Box:

The Conference’s Recommendations:

Brigadier al Henki announced the recommendations issued by the conferees during the conference as follows:

    Develop security work methods and ways of to keep pace with emerging global security challenges.
    Build bridges of collaboration with academic and research institutes to channel scientific research to serve the international security system, and guarantee business continuity in crises situations.
    Invite media organizations to review their strategies in order to create a responsible media that helps prevent the spread of experiences, methods, and information that encourage crime and extremism.
    Create a mechanism to allow individual initiatives to become a essential element of institutional work, to create new mechanisms to deal with extremism, and create a safe environment.
    Foster collaboration between law enforcement organizations in the world to exchange experiences, and spread the successful security experiences.
    Improve information exchange between countries in order to ensure access to the latest methods in the field of security planning and management of events and vital facilities.
    Encourage researchers to participate efficiently in the fields of security and resilience, by creating local and international incentives that are awarded to the best security-related researches.
    Set up  an international advisory committee affiliated to the International Conference on Security Challenges (ICSC), which includes in its membership  experts, current and former security and military officials representing several countries, who have a longstanding experience in security work, in order to enhance the standard of the conference and grant  it an international stature.

    conference and grant  it an international stature.

The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

Contacts

The UAE Minister of Interior's General Secretariat, Tactical Affairs and Security Media Department
Abu Dhabi Police GHQ - Security Media
Chris Cron +971-(0)-50-987-1317
E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com

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