Montréal and Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, 20 May 2021 - The successful launch of a new ICAO capacity-building project to strengthen the Republic of the Congo's aviation safety oversight system was celebrated at a special ceremony earlier this month.
The event was attended by the Minister of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Congo, Ms. Ingrid Olga Ghislaine Ebouka- Babackas, and by a representative of the Embassy of China to the Republic of Congo. ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu was represented at the proceedings by ICAO's Regional Director for Western and Central Africa (WACAF), Mr. Prosper Zo'o Minto'o.
Funded with a one million dollar donation made possible by China's South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, the new collaborative project is being implemented through ICAO's Technical Cooperation Bureau and is expected to run through the end of this year.
In addition to the provision of expert support for the improvement of technical activities in the fields of aerodromes, air navigation services, aircraft accident and incident investigation, and personnel licencing, the project will also see the Republic of Congo's civil aviation system benefit from workshops and on-the-job training to build human resource capacities in these fields.
Mobilizing resources to support enhancements to capacities of ICAO Member States' civil aviation systems is a major priority for the UN aviation agency, and the project represents a major contribution towards this goal.
It was underscored at the ceremony that this latest cooperation between the Republic of Congo, China, and ICAO is being pursued despite numerous challenges posed by the pandemic, and that it will ultimately improve the level of implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices in the Republic of Congo to enable safer aircraft operations.
