CRIMARIO participated in recent meetings organised by IMO under the Djibouti Code of Conduct amended in Jeddah named DCoC (JA): on 14-15 October to DCoC Coordination Committee and Regional Capacity Building Coordination Working Group, held in Djibouti, at DRTC; on 13-14 November to DCoC Regional high-level meeting of national focal points and donors held in Mombasa, Kenya.
David Nattrass, CRIMARIO information sharing component manager, participated in the workshop held at the Djibouti Regional Training Centre (DRTC); he took part in discussions to develop a roadmap for better coordination of capacity building efforts and to establish recommendations to the high level meeting on capacity building coordination.
François-Régis Cloup-Mandavialle, CRIMARIO coordinator, participated in the high level meeting, opened by Ambassador Rachel Omamo, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Kenya, and chaired by Mrs. Nancy Karigithu, Principal Secretary, Shipping and Maritime Affairs, Kenya’s Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Housing. The meeting gathered 14 of the 21 signatory countries as well as observers from 14 countries and international organisations.
During the meeting, the signatory countries to the Code agreed to establish a governance framework to champion its implementation of the Code. As a result, a steering committee was established alongside with working groups on information sharing and coordination.
The steering committee is constituted as follows: Chair: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Deputy Chair: Djibouti; Members: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The working group on Information Sharing (Chair: Kenya; Deputy Chair : Madagascar) will spearhead work on the development of an information sharing network, including a plan to establish multi-agency National Maritime Information Sharing Centres. There will also be support for the development of regional maritime information sharing centres.
The working group on Coordination of Effort (Chair: Ethiopia; Deputy Chair: Mozambique) will be responsible for championing the coordination of capacity building efforts, including work to enhance maritime domain awareness and coordination of training activities.
Observers from partner organisations agreed to establish a Group of Friends of DCOC (JA) which will serve as an informal platform for Member States and Organizations to exchange information and initiatives to support and advocate for DCOC (JA) objectives.
During the donor forum, the CRIMARIO coordinator proposed to the interested countries that they connect to the IORIS platform. The proposal was very well received and was included in the official press release:
“Signatory States of the code were encouraged by partners to share information nationally between States for their consumption and use, thereby creating a culture of information sharing by and between their National Sharing Centres. In this regard the EU CRIMARIO offered all DCOC (JA) Signatory States a licence to the IORIS sharing software.”
The Mombasa meeting was jointly organized by IMO and the Republic of Kenya with financial contribution from the United Kingdom.
The next high level meeting (including working groups and donor forum) will be held in Jeddah, KSA on 29 March-4 April, preceded by a workshop on the information sharing network at DRTC on 3-7 February 2020.
Download the press release 