The Leadership of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) participated in the XVI Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, held from October 13 to 16 in the City of Mendoza, Argentina, with the presence of 22 member countries and 7 observer organizations.
At the plenary meeting of the Ministers of Defense, the Board reinforced its role in promoting confidence and security, addressing issues of common interest in matters related to Defense and Security in the hemisphere, highlighting that the IADB develops, through studies, seminars and conferences, important work on a wide spectrum of topics, seeking to deliver to countries tangible and useful products to counter common challenges and establish increasingly stronger ties of mutual respect and cooperation.
In this regard, it is worth highlighting the areas of Humanitarian Demining, Environmental Protection, Cyberdefence, Maritime Security, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, Migration Flows, Women, Peace and Security and the development of the Disaster Cooperation Mechanism (MECODE).
Bilateral meetings were also held with Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, strengthening cooperation ties with various countries.
The importance of the IADB in continuing to organize an annual MECODE exercise for CMDA countries, as well as collecting, sharing and storing Lessons Learned on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) in the Hemisphere and keeping the points of contact up to date, was reaffirmed in the “Mendoza Declaration”.
The work of the IADB was also taken into account in the scope of the recommendations established by Working Commission I, which addressed the topic “Climate Challenges from the Defense Perspective”, to serve as a repository of Lessons Learned on Climate and Environmental Challenges..
