OSCE and UN secretaries general meet to discuss interoperability among key players in international crisis management

VIENNA, 7 March 2003 - The OSCE Secretary General, Jan Kubis, accompanied the former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, at a meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, in New York on Thursday, to discuss the possibility of improving interoperability and communication among key players dealing with crisis management and response.

The following day, Mr Kubis addressed the Crisis Response Executive Advisory Team (CREATE) in New York, jointly with the UN Under Secretary for Peace Keeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno. Representatives of the UN, the European Union, NATO, as well as the OSCE and the private sector were gathered to discuss how crisis management organizations can benefit from partnerships with the commercial industry.

In pledging the OSCE's preparedness to actively support Mr. Ahtisaari's Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), the OSCE Secretary General said: " We should not forget, that interoperability of our individual communication and information systems will optimize the use of scarce resources for crisis management but may also one day save lives - ours, our partners' and our hosts".

The CMI is an independent non-governmental actor, headed by its founder President Ahtisaari, whose aim is to respond to new security challenges. The aim of the CMI is first to enhance the crisis management capacity of the international community and second to find solutions to global problems and divisions.