UAE:Under the patronage of His Excellency Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bawardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, the Ministry of Defence is organizing its annual “leadership conference: wars in the 21st century” under the title: The Role of Defence in National Resilience Beyond 2020), which will be held remotely via video conferencing technology, on Monday, November 16, 2020.

In this context, His Excellency Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bawardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, stated that at the time of the fifth session of the Leadership Conference series organized virtually by the Ministry of Defence this year, the whole world is facing a real threat to humanity, a threat that goes beyond the consequences of conventional wars and battles. It is the spread of the new Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which has become a common enemy of mankind, requiring joint international efforts to confront and contain it.

His Excellency stressed the importance of preparing to face future challenges that may be more complex in nature than the current challenge. He said, “Our real goal should be to prepare countries to face these challenges in the future, while ensuring a high level of resilience, protecting the existence of our countries and finding ways to recover from these crises quickly."

The Minister of State for Defence Affairs affirmed that the UAE, through dealing with this crisis, has demonstrated its complete belief in the principles of tolerance and coexistence with all peoples.  The UAE has extended the hand of cooperation and synergy to all countries of the world to face the pandemic and address its effects and repercussions. This confirms that the values of tolerance, peace, solidarity and brotherhood in the UAE society are firm values that will continue to exist as long as humanity exists, and their positive effects are reflected regionally and internationally.

His Excellency valued all national efforts in managing this crisis to confront Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, represented by the Supreme Council for National Security, the Ministry of Health and Prevention, and federal and local institutions and bodies.

The conference’s agenda includes a keynote speech by His Excellency Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bawardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, followed by a keynote speech by His Excellency AbdulRahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention. After that, an interactive panel discussion will be held on “The Role of Defence in National Resilience Beyond 2020” with the participation of a number of local, regional and international experts, where Dr. Meir Elran, Head of the Internal Security Program at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, will discuss “National Resilience and the Nature of Threats in Modern Environment.” Mike Bush, Head of Operations of the COVID-19 All-of-Government Response Group of the New Zealand Cabinet, will discuss “Government Mobilization and National Resilience for COVID-19 Pandemic and Lessons Learned from the Pandemic Regarding Future Crisis Management.” Brigadier Dr. Aysha Aldhaheri, Commander of the Medical Services Corps in the UAE Armed Forces, will review the role of Defence institutions in supporting national responses to non-military threats and the contribution of the UAE Armed Forces to the national resilience for COVID-19 pandemic. 

The objectives of the conference are to shed light on national resilience in an era of epidemics. It reviews several axes, including: discussing contemporary threats (Covid-19, climate change, and irregular migration) and the challenges they pose to normal life. The conference also seeks to explore the concept of national resilience in the context of contemporary threats and how this resilience can be built and strengthened. The important role of the Defence organization and its contribution to preparing national capability and arming it with resilience to support response and confront non-military threats will also be reviewed. Light will also be shed on the contributions of the UAE Armed Forces to national resilience and the UAE governmental efforts in combating Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Role of Defence in National Resilience Beyond 2020” conference comes as a complement to "Leadership Conference: Wars in the 21st Century" conference series, organized by the Ministry of Defence since 2016. These conferences aim to prepare future leaders who are able to achieve preemption, foresight and speed of adaptation to respond to emerging challenges by arming them with the latest insights in the fields of security and defence. It also aims to achieve the contribution of the Ministry of Defence in producing the necessary strategic knowledge in future areas and to exchange experiences to ensure the achievement of UAE defence objectives.