[Abidjan, 18 February 2022] Navy Captain Charles Bamélé, Operational Coordination Director of the Permanent Secretariat of the Inter-ministerial Committee for State Action at Sea (SEPCIM-AEM), chaired the closing of the YARIS (Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information System) user training programme on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, in the presence of the Representative of the European Union Delegation and the pool of instructors from the European project GoGIN. He congratulated the forty participants from the various administrations of the State Action at Sea who successfully completed this practical training in Abidjan. Download the press release.
The maritime safety and security of Ivory Coast is coordinated by SEPCIM (Permanent Secretariat of the Inter-ministerial Committee for State Action at Sea). As such the entirety of civil and military administrations with competence over the sea and internal waters dispose of an institutional framework to monitor, and combat accidents, piracy, illegal fishing and all other forms of trafficking.
These administrations now have access to a national YARIS network, allowing them to use a unique and secure tool to prepare and carry out security and maritime safety operations, ranging from routine scenarios to crisis situations.
The YARIS (Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information System) platform was developed in partnership between the GoGIN project and leaders from the Yaoundé Architecture (YA), with support from the European Union. Operational since September 2020, the platform now connects 96% of the maritime centres within the Yaoundé Architecture. Beyond inter-regional coordination, YARIS has proven itself to be a powerful tool to connect national administrations.
Ivory Coast is the first country to benefit from a new training and deployment cycle designed to create a national YARIS network.
From 7 to 18 February, forty participants working across the administrations engaged in state action at sea learned to use YARIS, supported by a mixed team of instructors from GoGIN, CRESMAO and ARSTM. This modular training was adapted to the specific needs and varied functions of the different categories of personnel present. Line managers, operators and analysts are now equipped to use the platform for day-to-day monitoring as well as for maritime exercises and operations. Executives and prosecutors have been able to gain an awareness of the value of the platform in supporting decision making and evidence collection.
CV Charles Bamélé, observed that “the YARIS information sharing system has come to reinforce the implementation of the National Strategy of State Action at Sea in Ivory Coast, which was adopted in 2014 and is in large part based on information sharing between different civil and military administrations engaged in state action at sea. Without a coherent and secure framework for maritime information sharing and coordination between different civil and military administrations engaged in state action at sea in conjunction with the maritime security centres of the Gulf of Guinea and their international partners, the safeguarding of the national maritime domain has little chance of success. Thank you GoGIN.”
The national YARIS network in Ivory Coast will contribute to improvements in maritime surveillance, and operational and institutional information sharing. The network will finally enable a genuine coordination of operations when necessary.