Strategic Objective — Security and Facilitation — International Assistance / Capacity Building and Cooperation

International Assistance/Capacity Building and Cooperation

Under the framework of the ICAO Aviation Security Assistance and Capacity Building Strategy, ICAO continued to focus on aviation security-related assistance and capacity building in 2014. In line with this strategy, assistance was prioritized on the basis of a risk assessment and required the expressed commitment of States to improve. Nine State Improvement Plans were initiated throughout the year, illustrating a heightening of ICAO’s capability to mobilize ICAO Member States on the need to enhance aviation security.

Responding to the needs of Member States in a proactive manner, the Africa-Indian Ocean (AFI) Security/Facilitation (AFI SECFAL) Initiative was approved by Council in October and focuses on enhancing sustainable aviation security and air transport facilitation in the African Region. Taking inspiration from the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa (AFI Plan), which has proven effective in promoting collaboration among States and regional organizations to improve safety in Africa, the new initiative envisages ICAO leading the development and management of the new AFI SECFAL programme in the course of 2015.

In other areas, ICAO remained actively involved in facilitating and coordinating the work of regional partnerships, which included support for the implementation of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programmes in the Middle East and Asia Pacific Regions, as well as with various regional aviation security groups and forums, including, but not limited to: the European and North Atlantic (EURNAT) Aviation Security Group; the Asia Pacific Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum (RASCF); and the ICAO/Latin American Civil Aviation Conference (LACAC) Aviation Security and Facilitation Regional Group. ICAO also worked closely with international organizations, such as the United Nations Security Council. Cooperation was intensified with the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (UNCTED) and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). Over the course of the year, CTED teams were assisted by ICAO personnel, who provided expertise in aviation security for State visits and relevant information for specific missions. ICAO also worked closely with CTED and the CTITF to develop project proposals aimed at mobilizing resources to strengthen States’ aviation security and facilitation programmes.

Leveraging information that will be available from the Universal Security Audit Programme following its transition to a Continuous Monitoring Approach and project management information, ICAO developed aviation security assistance performance indicators that will measure the efficiency and effectiveness of assistance to States.

The worldwide network of Aviation Security Training Centres (ASTCs) endorsed by ICAO was expanded to 28 during 2014, with the addition of a training centre in Manama, Bahrain. As part of the ASTC activities, 43 ICAO-sponsored courses and workshops were conducted with 562 aviation security specialists having benefitted from the training.

With the creation of the Global Aviation Training (GAT) Office in January, ICAO initiated the process of harmonizing its training activities to ensure consistency with the ICAO Training Policy. As a result of the recent amendment to Annex 17 — Security related to cargo and mail security, the Cargo Security Course was updated in February. Simultaneously, efforts continue to ensure that all ICAO training material is up to date.

More information on ICAO’s aviation security training activities is available on www.icao.int/Security/isd/Training/.