Between January 31 and February 1, the Inter-American Defense Board participated in the workshop “Promotion of measures to strengthen military confidence (MFCS) for OAS member states,” held at the headquarters of the Organization of States. Americans in Washington DC
Based on measure 7 of the New Peace Agenda and action 23 of the Disarmament Agenda of the United Nations Secretary General, the meeting complemented efforts to improve security and promote cooperation and trust in the hemisphere, to through the approval and promotion of the OAS CSBM list, as well as the dissemination of its reporting mechanism.
The IADB collaborated with the event through conferences presented by Colonel Orlando Melvin Ugaz Bartolo (Peru), who analyzed the Disaster Cooperation Mechanism of the Inter-American Defense Board (MECODE); by Captain Taryn Machado Senez (Brazil), who spoke on “Peace and security for gender and women”; and by Colonel Luis Tolmos Valdivia (Peru), who addressed the topic “Conventional and non-conventional measures: background, list of the CSFM and implementation phase.”
The historic contribution of the IADB to strengthening hemispheric confidence and security was highlighted by Brigadier Flavio Luiz de Oliveira Pinto (Brazil), Director General of the Secretariat, in his closing remarks of the workshop. “The Inter-American Defense Board inherits from its member states the concern for the collective effort for peace and works to strengthen the ties of cooperation between the nations of the hemisphere, in pursuit of this common objective. In this sense, I reiterate the vocation and commitment of the Board to continue working multilaterally to promote security and trust, promoting and corroborating the measures of the OAS Consolidated List of CSBMs,” he highlighted.
At the opening of the event, General Marco Antonio Álvarez Reyes (Mexico), President of the Council of Delegates of the IADB, highlighted the position of the Board as an OAS Military Entity with extensive experience in multilateral cooperation. “The IADB integrates measures that contribute to strengthening the trust and security of its member states, promoting environments of transparency and goodwill,” he noted.
The workshop represented an opportunity to raise awareness about the role of military confidence-building measures in strengthening international and regional peace and security; encourage dialogue among OAS member states on the issue; identify existing gaps and challenges in CSBM practices in the region; exchange best practices with CSBM experts from other regions; and identify opportunities to further improve the CSBM regime.
Implemented in a hybrid format (in-person and virtual), the event was organized by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the OAS Secretariat for Multidimensional Security.
