A high-level seminar on the Middle East post-conflict strategy hosted at CCOE

The CIMIC Community of Interest is getting ready

«To be ready when the call comes. Are we ready?».

With this provocation, the director of the Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence, Colonel Roel Been, opened the CIMIC Community of Interest Seminar 2016 with around 100 international participants.

Militaries, diplomats, NGOs representatives, academics and students gathered all for three days together in The Hague, with a common aim: share views and engage on the challenging issue “A Middle East Post-Conflict Strategy / Focus on Syria and Iraq”. Thanks to the high level of competence and experience of the speakers, several topics related to the Middle East situation were discussed, such as: the added value and the possible problems in the interaction among militaries, humanitarian organizations and local actors; stability and democratization in post-conflict scenarios; the engagement of populations and the importance of women’s role in Civil-Military Cooperation; the management of refugees; hybrid threats in the crisis and possible responses.

Grafik COI Seminar 2016But what does Colonel Been want the CIMIC Community of Interest to be ready for? «We have to be ready and engaged if we want to support creating stability and security and give people the chance to return to a decent future». Seen the constructive debate and the high level of engagement, the seminar can be said to have been a firm step forwards to get ready.

For the first time the CCOE used a livestream during the opening speeches. For those who didn’t attend but would like to know more about the seminar, the Livestream video and some additional statements from the conference are available on the CCOE’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CCOE-CIMIC-Centre-of-Excellence-577818438961966/.

Article is written by CCOE/ PAO Intern/ Monica de Astis (ITA)