Senior officials from the Regional Security System (RSS) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) recently concluded a successful four-day mission to France, where they engaged in a series of high-level meetings aimed at strengthening partnerships and exploring new avenues for collaboration in regional security, disaster response, and maritime affairs.
The RSS delegation, led by Executive Director Rear Admiral Errington Shurland and Regional Maritime Officer Lieutenant Commander Rolerick Sobers, was joined by CDEMA Deputy Executive Director Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig and Programme Officer, Rasheed Pinder. Together, the delegation held productive discussions with French military, maritime, scientific, and security institutions, as well as international organisations.
Among the key engagements was a meeting with Maritime Prefect of the Atlantic and Commander of the Atlantic Maritime Zone and District, Vice Admiral Jean-François Quérat, where the discussions focused on the evolving operational environment and explored ways to further strengthen cooperation between the French Forces in the Caribbean, the RSS, and CDEMA.
At another meeting at the International Coordination Centre (ICC), Capt. (N) Emmanuel Bell-Bell, provided insight into the Yaoundé Architecture for the coordination and collaboration of regional security and operational matters in the West and Central African region.
The team also met with Mr. Bruno Morin of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) to discuss capacity building, training, and joint operations fisheries monitoring, aiming to cultivate independent state monitoring and enforcement practices among fisheries related matters in general and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF).
In the field of scientific research and innovation, the delegation held discussions with Director of the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Dr. François Le Loc’h. Areas of mutual interest included partnerships in academic research, environmental studies, and disaster risk reduction, with potential collaboration involving regional universities in Guyana and Belize and institutions such as the University of the West Indies (multiple UWI campuses, its Center for Resource Management and Environmental Studies and the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre in collaboration with CDEMA), RSS, CRFM and regional/national disaster offices.
A meeting with Director of SIREN, Lieutenant Commander Vignet, highlighted opportunities for training military and agency leaders in crisis management, interagency cooperation, and operational awareness. The SIREN programme is designed to support leadership development in the maritime and disaster response sectors, particularly for countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
At CEDRE, the international agency specialising in oil spill preparedness and accidental marine pollution preparedness and response, Deputy DirectorNicolas Tamic, shared insights on the organisation’s capabilities in management and clean-up of spills, including evaluation, contingency planning, training, analysis, testing and research.
The mission concluded with meetings involving senior representatives from the French Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Direction de la Coopération, de la Sécurité et de Défense (DCSD), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, and the French Maritime Information Cooperation & Awareness Centre (MICA).
Key areas for future cooperation identified during the visit include: Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF); Transnational Organized Crime (TOC); Situational Awareness; Information Exchange Mechanisms; Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) as well as Search and Rescue (SAR), urban and maritime.
These focus areas align with the mandates of both RSS and CDEMA and reflect the shared commitment to respond to events or situations in the maritime areas under French jurisdiction and the RSS and CARICOM members in Caribbean Sea area.