NATO ALLIES AND PARTNERS AGREE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON CRISES ASSISTANCE

 

Today the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aims at improving the speed and efficiency of assistance to victims of humanitarian crises or disasters.

The MoU has been developed under the supervision of the NATO Senior Civil Emergency Planning Committee (SCEPC) in close cooperation with the NATO Planning Board for Inland Surface Transport (PBIST).

The MoU is a multilateral instrument which provides the general framework for the facilitation of vital civil cross border transport movements across the territories of the signatories. It is applicable for the provision of humanitarian asistance in response to disasters, including those triggered by a Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear (CBRN) event.

The MoU is now open for signature to all NATO Allies and Partners.  It is a first step  in the further development of detailed and binding provisions aimed at expediting disaster relief.

This important tool fulfils the remit stemming from NATO’s Civil Emergency Planning (CEP) Action Plan for the Improvement of Civil Preparedness against Possible Attacks with Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear Agents.

 

For further information please contact Andrzej Jacuch, CEP/OPERATIONS DIVISION, NATO HQ, Brussels, Belgium, tel. 00-32-2-707.4806, fax 00-32-2-707.7900, e-mail:  jacuch.andrzej@hq.nato.int