INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON CIVIL-MILITARY COOPERATION

Motta di Livenza, November 18th 2020.

The International Forum of Commanders of Units specializing in Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC), better known as the "CIMIC Unit Commanders' Conference" (CUCC), took place for the thirteenth consecutive year with the participation of several military authorities and civilian professionals. 

The forum, which took place with the help of videoconferences due to the ongoing epidemiological emergency, had as its main theme the "National Civil Emergency Response & Planning and CIMIC in COVID-19": a current topic and in line with the arguments addressed by the Atlantic Alliance in the last period.

The conference represented a unique opportunity for sharing and discussing issues related to cooperation and interaction between the civilian and military components, which is now an essential aspect to consider and develop in all operational scenarios. The Multinational CIMIC Group (MNCG), the joint and combined military unit based in Motta di Livenza, organized the event with the aim of strengthening personal and professional ties between the participants, this year connected from all over the world, from Canada to Poland, and sitting at a virtual table precisely to discuss the issues related to the prescriptions that a nation can and must put in place in the event of a civil emergency.

The conference was also a moment of interaction in which to discuss future scenarios and the measures to be implemented to carry out civil-military cooperation activities in an epidemiological framework such as the one being experienced.

The French Brigadier General, Bernard Lebrun, "Head of the CIMIC Division of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)", in his greeting speech, stressed how relevant the themes of the conference are especially in terms of cooperation and coordination between civil and military components especially in a period marked by a health emergency of global proportions, described in its implications and perspectives by the specialized staff of SHAPE's J-MED branch. 

The Multinational CIMIC Group Commander, Colonel Mattia Zuzzi, during his speech, affirmed the importance of a holistic approach to the new challenges that NATO is facing and will face in the near future, underlining the daily commitment of the MNCG during the lockdown and for the entire period of health emergency put in place on the national territory and abroad by CIMIC operators.

The audience was composed of representatives of NATO, the Partnership for Peace and members of International, Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations: among them were representatives of the United Nations, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the "Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre", the Slovenian Civil Protection and the Italian one, represented by the Operational Director for emergency coordination, Engineer Luigi D'angelo.