Palau will host the fifth annual Joint Heads of Pacific Security (JHoPS) Meeting on 23-24 August, bringing together nearly 80 security leaders from 20 nations in Koror to discuss information-sharing, cooperation and interoperability to address Pacific security challenges.
Last year’s JHOPS meeting was held in Nadi, Fiji.
The two-day meeting, supported by the Australian Government Department of Defence, will enable Pacific security leaders to work together towards Pacific solutions to our unique security challenges. The participating leaders include chiefs of immigration, police, customs, and militaries, as well as regional organizations.
The meeting will be chaired by Vice President and Minister of Justice the Honorable J. Uduch Sengebau Senior. The Palau delegates to the meeting will be the Bureau Directors of Public Safety, Customs and Border Protection as well as the Chiefs of Immigration and Patrol and the National Security Coordinator.
“I am exceptionally pleased to welcome members from our Pacific family to beautiful Palau for the JHoPS meeting, and look forward to sharing our national security achievements, and learning from theirs,” Vice President Senior said.
“The Pacific currently faces a number of security challenges, and it is events like JHoPS that enable us to meet these challenges head-on.”
The meeting will see delegates from around the Pacific discuss ways of improving security cooperation including by working through ‘table-top exercises’ designed to test and improve collective action among the participating nations.
“We’re very excited to consider these issues with our Pacific partners. While fictional scenarios, they are based on some very real issues that we face in the region – and the chance to practice and step through our responses to what might arise is very valuable,” National Security Coordinator Jennifer Anson explained.
“Being able to foster the links between our nations in a controlled environment means we have both the relationships and the processes in place to meet whatever challenges may arise in our day-to-day duties.” .
SOURCE: ISLAND TIMES/PACNEWS
