On March 4, the XI MEETING OF THE FORUM ON MFCS was held at the historic Casa del Soldado, headquarters of the Inter-American Defense Board.
The organization of this event was led by the Chair of the XI Forum on Confidence and Security Building Measures (MFCS), Ambassador Mayerlyn Cordero Díaz, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the OAS, this meeting being a key space for strengthening cooperation and dialogue on hemispheric security.
The event began with high-level speeches, including the intervention of the Chair of the Committee on Hemispheric Security, Jacinth Henry-Martin, Permanent Representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the OAS; Major General of EM Marco Antonio Alvarez Reyes, President of the Council of Delegates of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB); and the Secretary for Multidimensional Security of the OAS, Mr. Iván Márques.
During the day, various key topics in the area of regional security were addressed, such as progress in the implementation of CSBMs, with a presentation on the OAS electronic reporting platform by Ms. Pier De Luca and Mr. Juan Carlos Melgar, from the SSM Public Security Department. In addition, a reflection exercise was carried out on the Comparative Study between the OAS CSBMs and the United Nations Global CSBM Repository, led by Peruvian Air Force Colonel Luis Tolmos Valdivia, liaison officer between the IADB and the OAS.
Another highlight of the forum was the discussion on possible new areas of development of CSMF. In this context, Rear Admiral João Batista Barbosa presented a reflection on the defence products sector. The need to establish CSMF in the field of new technologies was also discussed, with interventions by Ambassador Claudio Peguero and Mr. Isaac Morales Tenorio, who analysed the challenges in cybersecurity and data privacy in the region.
The event concluded with closing remarks by Lieutenant General Flávio Luiz de Oliveira Pinto, Director General of the IADB Secretariat, and Ambassador Mayerlyn Cordero Díaz, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the OAS.
This XI Forum reaffirms the commitment of the OAS Member States to building trust and security in the region, promoting multilateralism and cooperation as pillars
