RACVIAC-Centre for Security Cooperation organizes the COVID-19 Pandemic – Crisis Management On-line Seminar on 17 June 2020.
The purpose of the Seminar is to present and analyse national crisis management concepts, inter-agency cooperation, challenges, best practices and lessons learned in dealing with the coronavirus crisis, by providing the platform for interaction among national crisis/emergency management and public health and civil protection experts thus contributing to the improvements of crisis management capabilities of RACVIAC Members and partners.
Source: racviac.org
The event started with the opening remarks given by RACVIAC Director MG (ret.) Jeronim Bazo who said: “This Seminar is dedicated to examining the national crisis management concepts and actual performance in the COVID-19 pandemic. I strongly believe it will help us understand challenges better and reconsider reactions of our crisis response systems, and thus contribute to the improvements of RACVIAC Members’ crisis management capabilities.” He continued by saying: “Since RACVIAC is the Centre for regional security cooperation, we are happy to serve our Members and fulfil our mission in the circumstances where live cross-border communication is not possible by providing this virtual platform for interaction among national crisis management, public health and civil protection experts.” Director Bazo also took the opportunity to express his appreciation to all lecturers – academic representatives and subject matter experts who will present and analyse their national experiences in dealing with coronavirus crisis and to Dr Matthew Rhodes from the George C. Marshall Centre for his Introductory remarks.
This Seminar serves as a platform at which national crisis management, public health and civil protection academic and professional experts involved in COVID-19 pandemic crisis response or analysis: Mirza Smajić, PhD, Faculty of Political Science in Sarajevo, Vedran Kranjčević, Head of Cabinet, Croatian Ministry of Health, Robert Mikac, PhD, Faculty of Political Science of Zagreb University, Roberto Setola, PhD, Campus Bio-Medico, University of Rome, Olivera Injac, PhD, University of Donja Gorica, Podgorica, Marina Mitrevska, PhD and Lidija Georgieva, PhD, Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, and Želimir Kešetović, PhD, Faculty of Security Studies, University of Belgrade, will provide presentations on COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis Management analysing and presenting best practices, challenges, and lessons learned through out all three phases of crisis management cycle: prevention, preparedness, and response phase.
The Seminar has gathered more than 30 participants, representatives and experts from ministries of defence, health, interior, demography and other, from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey, as well as representatives of OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Defence Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative in SEE, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Office in Zagreb, and ISCTE-IUL Student Union from Portugal.
The uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus has affected all countries and societies of the world harder than many other challenges we have faced so far. States have proven to be the undisputed actors and creators of policies and conditions that most directly affect the functioning of life, society and the economy during this crisis. Depending on their attitudes and ability to cope with the crisis, they determined the current action within their own borders and the international environment as well as the future of relations between many actors in their society. It is the ability of states to organize an effective crisis management system, with all its components, phases of the crisis management cycle, application of knowledge of effective crisis communication, assessment and daily strategic decision-making that produces the preconditions for analysing how successful individual countries have been in dealing with this crisis. This subject is of central interest to our on-line Seminar.