Gabala hosts Civil Defense conference

Gabala, March 14 (AzerTAc). The international conference on ‘Civil Defense and preparation of civil societies for disaster risk prevention’ was organized by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Azerbaijan in cooperation with the International Civil Defence Organization (ICDO) here on March 12-13, 2013. The conference was attended by representatives from 54 countries. The participants saw the video on the operations of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Speaking to the conference, Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov noted that recent calamities around the world killed hundreds of thousands people and inflicted damages to the states. Security of population is the major challenge amidst rising risks in recent years. According to the Minister, close cooperation between the Ministry and the International Civil Defense Organization has been established for the past 20 years. Azerbaijan is located in the emergency high risk zone. Special squads were formed and provided with the special equipment, planes and helicopters in order to participate in rescue operations. Secretary General of the International Civil Defense Organization Nawaf Al-Sleibi expressed gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for favorable conditions provided in Azerbaijan for organizing the conference. He noted the conference became the turning point in the history of the international organization and is set to contribute to combining efforts of its member states. It was said at the conference that the Secretary General was honored with an award of the Emergencies Ministry of Azerbaijan. Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov presented Nawaf Al-Sleibi with the Ministry`s For Cooperation badge. For his part, the Minister was awarded with the first degree Medal of Merit "Commander Rank" of the International Civil Defense Organization. The awarding was followed by reports by heads of emergency response agencies of ICDO member countries. The civil defense system of the Emergency Situations Ministry was presented at the event. In conclusion, the participants adopted the Gabala declaration.