Participants at a Regional Table Top Exercise in Chemical Emergency Response, which was held in Costa Rica from 4 – 7 November 2014
A pilot regional table top exercise in chemical emergency response for States Parties in Latin America and the Caribbean was held from 4 to 7 November 2014 in the capital city of San José. The OPCW organised the exercise in close cooperation with the National Authorities of Costa Rica and Indonesia, with 20 first responders from 12 States Parties in the region* plus Indonesia in attendance.
The exercise addressed issues of regional and sub-regional coordination in chemical emergency situations and tested participants’ skills and knowledge about national and regional organisational processes. Participants also learned about regional coordination activities being undertaken by the regional office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and CARICOM.
The exercise was prepared and facilitated by Indonesian experts, with a view to expanding this activity in the region in 2015.
* Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Uruguay