President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro participates in the 2nd CBRN Centre of Excellence (CoE) National Focal Points Round-Table Meeting for Central Asia in Turin 19-20 November 2014

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President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro along with Dean, Post Graduate Studies, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) Lahore Dr. Kausar Abdulla Malik participated in the CBRN Centres of Excellent (CoE) "2nd National Focal Points Round Table Meeting for Central Asia" held at the headquarters of United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) Turin-Italy on 19 - 20 November 2014.

The Round Table meeting brought together representatives from four Partner Countries in the Region, namely: Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The representatives and experts from the European Union Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation (DG-DEVCO), the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), and UNICRI also participated in the meeting. The meeting was exclusively organized to review the implementation of EU supported CBRN Risk Mitigation and Capacity Building Projects in Central Asia. The event was an opportunity for the participants to discuss regional priorities and implementation of projects, as well as the Needs Assessment Questionnaire (NAQ) and the CBRN National Action Plan (NAP)- two key aspects of the initiative to identify target areas for action. Furthermore, the meeting created a platform for discussion on future projects within the region and further possibilities for the CBRN risk mitigation network. In order to promote such dialogue, Representatives from partner countries of the South-East Europe, Southern Caucasus, Moldova and Ukraine region, namely Georgia, Moldova and Serbia, were also invited to share the experience of their countries in relation to the Needs Assessment process and the creation of National Action Plans.

Within the framework of EU CBRN CoE, activities have been taking place in the region since 2011, and between 2013 and 2014 significant work has been carried out to strengthen regional cooperation and lay the basis for the opening of a Regional Secretariat for Central Asia.

The EU CBRN CoE Initiative is funded by the European Commission and implemented in cooperation with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC). The European External Action Service is also involved in the follow-up of the initiative. The initiative is developed with the technical support of relevant international and regional organizations, the EU Member States and other stakeholders, through coherent and effective cooperation at the national, regional and international level. The initiative involves 48 countries in 8 regions of the world.

Participants were apprised of the programme as a whole followed by projects reports by participating countries and workshop on methodology of project preparation and need assessments. On part of Pakistan Delegation, Dr. Kauser Abdulla Malik made a power point presentation about the status of expertise/capacities and facilities as well as the activities of Pakistan Biosafety Association.

Dr. Soomro proposed to the EU/DEVCO and UNICRI to keep the ECOSF on board and cooperate especially in the Biosafety and Biosecurity activities in the ECO Region. He also assured the meeting of the cooperation of the Foundation. He reported back that ECOSF in collaboration with FC College Lahore with the financial support of European Commission had organized a three day International Conference on "Emerging Trends in Life Sciences for Sustainable Development" in Lahore-Pakistan from 9-11 October 2014 wherein over 130 participants joined in including those from ECO Member States. The video documentary/report for the Lahore conference has also been shown and appreciated in the meeting.