"Before being a state, security must be everyone's business" (Rear-Admiral Sow)

Maritime security and safety are major challenges for States, especially in the current context where piracy, maritime pollution, illegal emigration, among others, have reached an unsuspected level. And in the fight against these scourges, the State of Senegal, through Hassmar, has developed a national plan to ensure its citizens peace. Plan that integrates awareness of the population with the contribution of the press. It is within this framework that this structure organized a workshop aimed at raising the level of media professionals on the issue.

"Maritime areas are not immune to this new situation insofar as insecurity, disorder and insalubrity are increasingly rife to the point of turning some parts of the world into a zone of lawlessness referring to the resurgence of maritime piracy, illegal immigration flows by sea but also other threats such as maritime terrorism, illegal fishing, "said Rear Admiral Alioune Moussa Sow, Secretary General of Hassmar.

On his way forward, Rear-Admiral Sow explains that Senegal "is committed to putting in coherence a system of securing maritime spaces, through an operational potential of the Navy with the acquisition of modern boats that can intervene in depth, so as to provide a credible and dissuasive response to potential threats. "

In addition to this, "a multifunctional vessel with a dedicated high-seas emergency response unit is being acquired to cope with a wide range of threats at sea. specialized in mass rescue in specific cases. "

But the military side is only one aspect among many others to succeed the bet. Thus, he argues, his success must go through "an essential awareness at all levels." Because, "before being state or collective, it is above all a question of citizen responsibility, individual, within spaces that are common to us. "

This is the reason for holding the two-day workshop with journalists: "This workshop is in line with Hassmar's strategy to ensure that virtually all at the same level of understanding of these issues of security and maritime safety, so that we can do the right thing, "he said.