Disarmament & Regional Security
Promoting Peace and Stability in Balkans Through Disarmament and Regional Security
Disarmament efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina are vital in maintaining stability in a post-conflict society. Former weapons of war that remain within easy reach present an ongoing danger to the security and stability of civil society. Availability and proliferation of weapons and materiel can have devastating and chilling effects beyond the Western Balkans region, thus calling for a heightened regional and cooperative security approach, particularly in the border regions. Peace and reconciliation form a lasting foundation for healing divisions in a post-conflict society.
By focusing on rebuilding relationships and re-establishing common interests instead of amplifying divisions, DTCare seeks to hold the common ground and encourage sustainability. Through dialogue and education, long-term stability is possible as former adversaries and neighbors re-learn to work together and coexist peacefully. DTCare believes that sustainable economic development and prosperity can only be achieved through cooperation, thereby creating a better future for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Summer School for Critical Infrastructure Risk Management and Practical Exercise in Sarajevo
DTCare Sarajevo is sponsoring several activities at the Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Summer School, held from June 6th to the 8th, 2024, and organized by CEPS’s School of Applied Sciences on campus in Kiseljak, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are happy to announce that Mr. Larry Balding, the regional director of the ALERRT program at Texas State University, will be in attendance and, in cooperation with DTCare and CEPS, explore the possibility of establishing a similar critical response program in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The summer school is expected to attract participants from Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Poland, and Spain. The summer school will also culminate with the practical exercise held at the Kresevo Sporting Airfield in cooperation with Foundation DVA on June 8th (Saturday) from 08:30–11:30, featuring the combination of sensor systems, vehicles, and helicopters to showcase the possibilities in protecting critical infrastructure.
DTCare Explores the Role of Former Paramilitary Organizations at International Security Conference
DTCare participated and presented at the International Conference “Temporary Security Ripples or New World Architecture of Security”. DTCare’s Andy Brown and Amer Smailbegovic have presented a comparative study on the role of former paramilitary organizations as a proxy for civil defense: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lebanon. The conference presented an excellent venue to exchange ideas and build partnerships for future activities in the Western Balkans. The paper will be published in the Security Dialogues Journal Vol. 15.
Summer School in Emergency Preparedness, Protection, and Rescue
DTCare partnered with the University of Sarajevo's Faculty of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Security Studies, Federal Directorate of Civil Defense, DSC Sarajevo, Mountain Rescue Service, and the Municipal Police Force of Sarajevo to bring an emergency preparedness, protection, and rescue summer training to fifth-year Security Studies students from May 29 through June 1. Fifth-year students of the Integrated Security Studies program at the Faculty of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Security Studies at the University of Sarajevo are working on a project to implement an incident-response exercise titled P.O.V.E.D.I (Practical Operational Vulnerability Exercise on a Drone Incident).
This exercise aims to train and evaluate the means of reporting and reacting to dangerous incidents and the ability of responsible services, students, faculty, and employees to safely vacate the threatened area, evacuate and rescue if needed. This is the first practical effort highlighting the possibility of a malicious attack against the University; no such scenarios or exercises were conducted in the region previously. The principal objective is to develop and test procedures required to conduct similar drills, evacuations, and responses across all similar institutions that can be implemented in the case of a terrorist attack, accident, or any other emergency.
Practical exercises included:
Best practices to improve survivability in an active shooter incident (Day 1)
POVEDI - Practical Operational Vulnerability Exercise on a Drone Incident (Day 4)
Read more about the event on the University of Sarajevo's blog at www.fkn.unsa.ba/post/otvaranje-ljetne-škole-zaštita-i-spašavanje-pokazna-operativna-vježba.
Master's Workshop: Modern Methods in Border Monitoring and Protection of Key Infrastructure
DTCare proudly co-organized a master's workshop on the modern methods in border monitoring and protection of key infrastructure in collaboration with the University of Sarajevo's Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS) and SHOT L.L.C. Zenica on May 27, 2023. 20 Participants joined Dr. Amer Smailbegović (DTCare) and Prof. Nedzad Korajlić (Center for Human Rights, UNSA) to explore the recent program law enforcement implemented in the Sarajevo region to modernize the monitoring of the border zone with the use of sensor systems, radars, drones, and advanced communication systems. The operational use of these aids requires considerable technical literacy of the future professional staff. The "International and Regional Security" master’s program, organized by the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, in cooperation with the representative office of DTCare NGO, promotes thematic and practical workshops aimed at the efficient use of such systems, as well as a general approach to security philosophy in the world.
The workshop's goal is to familiarize future security and emergency management professionals with technical solutions, the applicability of equipment in the field, limitations, and best practices in border monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure. Thematic units from the workshop included:
Physics of sensors and sensing
Protection of the border zone or critical infrastructure - breaching the protection - demonstration
Desktop exercise - blue/red team - object diversion and object protection
Drones and UAS - incursions/incidents/audit and review of the evacuation plan from a drone incident
Techniques of working with spatial data and digital archives in the public domain
Demonstration of Modern Surveillance, May 2022
Demonstration of Modern Surveillance
DTCare Sarajevo in cooperation with the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies "Zdravko Grebo" of the University of Sarajevo, organized a two-day professional education seminar and demonstration of modern surveillance equipment for borders and critical infrastructure on the 22nd and 23rd of April 2022.
The seminar featured several domestically-produced reconnaissance systems by SHOT d.o.o. Zenica and Autogyro Adriatic d.o.o. Sarajevo and foreign companies DefSecIntel from Estonia and partners from the USA. The objectives were to enhance the level of technical literacy and familiarity with modern border surveillance equipment and point out technological achievements and monitoring strategies for border traffic control and targeted surveillance of critical infrastructure areas.
During the theoretical part of the seminar, lecturers from BiH, Estonia, and the USA lectured on the best practices, strategies, and applications of the surveillance technology, and during the technical part of the seminar, organized at the sporting airfield of the SBA Flight School in the highlands of Nisici, demonstrated the use of gyrocopter and mobile border control units. Representatives of agencies from the security sector, civil defense, law enforcement, international organizations in BiH, and the NGO sector attended the seminar.
The seminar is part of the global program of DTCare to support organization and capacity building for law enforcement and also part of the interdisciplinary master's curriculum study for the International and Regional security of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Sarajevo.
