Seychelles and Cuba have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in disaster response.
It was the Minister for Internal Affairs, Errol Fonseka and the Cuban ambassador to Seychelles, Martha Hernández Caneiro, who signed the MoU in a brief ceremony yesterday afternoon at the Internal Affairs head office, Independence House Annex.
Present were the director general of the Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD), Robert Ernesta, and principal counsellor within the Bilateral Affairs Division of the Foreign Affairs department, Myrna Hoareau.
The MoU entails the provision of training, exchange of expertise and good practices, and sharing of information in disaster response between the two countries.
Minister Fonseka said the signing of this MoU had come at an ideal time when DRMD is gaining more national prominence with the recent establishment of two key committees mandated under the Disaster Risk Management Act 2014, to guide the cabinet of ministers on all things related to risk reduction and disaster management.
He added that as a small developing island state, Seychelles views Cuba as an example to emulate in a number of fields such as education, health, agriculture, and now disaster risk reduction and disaster management.
He said the MoU will help our country better prepare in advance to tackle disaster calamities taking into account our vulnerability to climate change situations as a small island state.
Minister Fonseka stated that our country commits itself to making the most of this MoU, that has been a few years in the making, to improve our DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) and DRM (Disaster Risk Management) systems and structures as we look forward to the exchange of expertise and good practices.
He thanked Ambassador Hernández Caneiro for signing this MoU as an acknowledgement of continued cooperation between our countries.
For her part, Ambassador Hernández Caneiro said that both Seychelles and Cuba share long lasting relationship and the MoU is one more step towards further developing the existing bilateral relations between the two countries.
She also on behalf of her government thanked our country for supporting the lifting of US economic blockade against her country.
Source: Seychelles Nation