Executive Summary and Key Policy Recommendations

NATO has played an important role in the domain of civil emergency response for twenty years. On 3 June 1998, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) was established. The EADRCC is NATO’s principal civil emergency response mechanism.

The EADRCC stands ready as a 24/7 clearing-house mechanism for the coordination of requests and offers of international assistance amongst NATO Allies and partners.

In February and March this year, a Canadian Armed Forces Explosive Threat Training Team conducted an Explosive Threat Search training course for trainers of the Iraqi Security Forces.

This course was held at the Iraqi Army Bomb Disposal School in Besmaya, Iraq, within the framework of NATO’s training and capacity partnership building with the Iraqi Security Forces. It was developed in accordance with Canadian Armed Forces doctrine and standards to assist the Iraqi Security Forces develop the skills-set to locate and identify explosive hazards.

Executive Summary

In November and December this year, a mobile training team led by Slovakia conducted a training course in manual demining for Iraqi Security Forces. This was held in Iraq in the framework of NATO's training and capacity building activities in support of Iraqi security forces and institutions. It was developed and implemented in coordination with the NATO Core Team in Baghdad.