Between July 10 and 12, 2023, the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) participated in the 63rd Conference of Chiefs of the American Air Forces (CONJEFAMER), held in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The Conference is the main event of the System of Cooperation between the American Air Forces (SICOFAA), since it has the direct participation of the Commanders of the Air Forces of the member countries or their equivalents.
In this edition of CONJEFAMER, the activities carried out by the group during the 2022-2023 cycle were reviewed, including the systemic reactions to the major disasters that have recently occurred in the hemisphere, such as the hurricanes in the Caribbean region and the fires in Chile and Canada. The 63rd edition of the Conference also addressed the lessons learned in the last Humanitarian Operational Preparedness Exercise, COOPERATION IX, carried out in May of this year in Peru, aimed at post-earthquake and tsunami assistance.
Invited by the Colombian Air Force (FAC), the Inter-American Defense Board has been characterized as a “Special Guest” of the Cooperation System since 1965 and is currently responsible for the development of MECODE, a Cooperation Mechanism whose main objective is to increase the efficiency of Military and civil organizations involved in Humanitarian Aid actions.
In this context, the interactions carried out allow the IADB to ensure that the processes outlined for MECODE do not conflict with the doctrine already established by SICOFAA, since air assistance represents “first aid” in the event of a natural or anthropic disaster. More specifically, even in the context of Humanitarian Aid, while SICOFAA promotes prior coordination between the Air Forces, in order to prepare them for a rapid response, MECODE seeks to be an instrument for voluntary use, which provides a flow of information reliable for the different countries or entities involved in the emergency situation.
The development of MECODE was assigned to the IADB through an agreement between the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CMDA) and the Organization of American States (OAS), to which the Inter-American Defense Board reports. Furthermore, the Facility is part of the Disaster Risk Management Program which, together with five other programs – Maritime Safety; Women, Peace and Security; Humanitarian Demining; Cyber defense; and Multidimensional Security - make up the portfolio of lines of action and advice promoted by the IADB.
To learn more about the activities of the IADB and SICOFAA, just access the following links:
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