On January 19, the national Steering Committee (NSC) of SEACOP V in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Santo Domingo.
A significant number of local authorities were involved in the meeting, in the presence of the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs, Mr. Hugo Francisco Rivera. The EU Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Mrs. Katja Afhelt, also participated, alongside representatives from the embassies of Spain and France.
As for local authorities, the National Drug Control Directorate, the National Drug Council, the National Navy and representatives of the Security and Defense Directorate joined the NSC.
The Committee began with the words of the Vice Minister who greatly commended the support of the European Union to his country in the fight against drug trafficking, which he cited as one of the priorities of the country.
For her part, the EU Ambassador emphasised the importance for SEACOP to be a project implemented in close collaboration with the Dominican local authorities, stressing the key importance of local ownership and adaptation to the needs of the country.
Subsequently, the SEACOP Team, represented by its Director and the Regional Coordinator for Latin America, presented the general context of the project, its strengths and objectives in the support to the fight against illegal maritime trafficking and the upcoming activities to be held in the following months.
Mention was also made of the coordination and synergies developed between SEACOP and other projects in the region such as the Multi Country Border Security -MCBS-, the EU CRIMJUST project and the United Nations Container Control Program -CCP-. These synergies seek to avoid duplication and multiply capacity building efforts in the region.
