Dubai hosts 18th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization focused on security and facilitation

Major General Pilot Ahmad Muhammad Bin Thani, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Ports Affairs at Dubai Police, inaugurated the 18th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Security and Facilitation in Dubai, a United Nations initiative.

The event, organised by Dubai's Civil Aviation Security Centre in partnership with ICAO, brings together executive directors of civil aviation training departments and centres worldwide.

The four-day assembly, featuring a symposium, was attended by David Sutherland, Head of Support and Development at ICAO's Security and Facilitation Department; Omar Bin Ghaleb, Deputy Director-General of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA); and Engineer Colonel Marwan Mohammed Singel, Director of Dubai's Civil Aviation Security Centre; besides 48 executive directors in civil aviation security training representing 27 countries.

Fostering knowledge transfer 
In his opening speech, Major General Bin Thani welcomed attendees and expressed gratitude to ICAO for its support, particularly in the context of training, whether it was by developing training programmes and curricula, or providing a framework for information dissemination on civil aviation across different regions. He highlighted ICAO's role in boosting international training cooperation and knowledge transfer and its significant contribution to the development of training systems and legislation in the region, besides promoting effective training programmes for civil aviation security.

Major General Bin Thani also commended ICAO's field monitoring of international airports and their training impact and the GCAA's support for Dubai's Civil Aviation Security Centre, which aligns with the evolving aviation sector, especially in the context of security. He emphasised the centre's pioneering training programmes, including 3D training technologies and e-learning for passenger inspection.

GCAA focus areas
Omar Bin Ghaleb emphasised the utmost significance of the 18th ICAO Training Managers Meeting as it reflects ICAO's role in setting standards, developing legislation, and monitoring the quality of the civil aviation training system globally. He highlighted the GCAA's focus on aligning national legislation with ICAO guidelines, encouraging training innovation, and exploring proactive solutions.

Bin Ghaleb reaffirmed the UAE's efforts to devise legislation to enable the highest level of training, develop Arabic and English training materials, and host international workshops and forums to enrich the training process and promote a culture of upgrades and training within the civil aviation sector.

Dubai as third-time host
Engineer Colonel Marwan Mohammed Singel noted that Dubai, with its preeminent capabilities in civil aviation and globally recognised Civil Aviation Security Centre, was hosting the assembly for the third time. 

“The decisions from the assembly are expected to enhance global airport standards and procedures by improving security training and service facilitation,” he said. 

The Assembly discussed updates in aviation security from ICAO, strategies for human capacity building in airport security procedures, regional initiatives, global training guidelines, training material reviews, and comprehensive evaluations to elevate training standards.

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