ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE
A proposed centralized crisis management center in the Kyrgyz Republic will help the Central Asian nation handle natural disasters, border incidents and terrorist threats.
In February 2014, a memorandum of understanding to develop a technologically advanced “situation room” was signed by the Kyrgyz government, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Centre in Bishkek, and the Democratic Control for Armed Forces, an international foundation to enhance security sector governance through security sector reform.
The situation room, created at the request of the Kyrgyz government and financed and developed by the OSCE, will address emergencies by incorporating military and civilian elements in its command-and-control structure. The goal is to increase operational efficiency in handling natural and man-made threats in the region.
“The main directions of our joint work include projects aimed at managing and controlling small arms and light weapons, increasing the operational preparedness of Kyrgyz anti-terrorism agencies, implementing government press service reform and enhancing the ability of the Kyrgyz government to engage in regional cooperation in border security and management,” said Tokon Mamytov, vice prime minister of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The crisis management center will take an estimated three years to establish, after which it will be handed over to the Office of the Prime Minister.
“The center-to-be will become a platform for experts and officers from various government bodies to monitor and address any kind of emergency situation in the country. It will significantly speed up the decision-making process under critical circumstances and enhance government responses and coordination in times of emergencies,” Ambassador Sergey Kapinos of the OSCE Centre said during the signing ceremony.
“It will also serve as a key feature of ongoing reforms in the security sector in Kyrgyzstan, along with the creation of a General Staff within the military doctrine that was approved by President Almazbek Atambayev,” Kapinos added.