Indonesia to Host Interpol General Assembly

Jakarta, April 23 (Antara) - Indonesia is poised to host the 85th Interpol General Assembly that will take place at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC) in the island resort of Bali in November 2016. Comprising delegates appointed by the governments of member countries, the Interpol General Assembly is held once a year and takes all the major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international cooperation, working methods, finances and programs of activities. Interpol is the second largest global organization, comprising 190 countries, after the United Nations with a mission to connect all police Institutions worldwide for a safer world. In the 84th General Assembly in Rwanda last year, the delegates endorsed Indonesia as the host of the 85th session in 2016, and the decision is a clear manifestation of trust that the international community has for the country. More than 2 thousand delegates from all member states, private and public partners and other national and international organizations are expected to attend the assembly in Bali. The Interpol General Assembly is the second largest gathering after the United Nations General Assembly, which is held in New York. To attend the assembly, each member state sends around 10 delegates, but the larger countries such as the United States and China usually send more than 50 delegates. The delegates of each member country are usually accompanied by their family members, so it is estimated that more than three thousand people will be present in Bali for this event, Bali Police Chief Inspector General Sugeng Priyanto said while speaking about his experiences of attending the previous assembly. This means Bali, which has been known since the past, will be even more famous with the presence of thousands of participants at the meeting. Hence, the cooperation of all parties, including the hospitality, is expected to provide a positive image and security in Bali and Indonesia in general for the success of the meeting. The 84th session of the Interpol General Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda, in September 2015 ended with delegates endorsing a new road map for the organization's future development to better support its 190 member countries in combating transnational crime and terrorism. With the Interpol 2020 review of the organization's environment, strategy, priorities and activities receiving unanimous backing from delegates, Interpol will work with member countries to define and develop a clear set of outcomes for strengthening its policing capabilities supported by strong governance mechanisms. The continued support of delegates was essential to transform the resolutions adopted during the General Assembly into concrete action, Interpol President Mireille Ballestrazzi said at that time. "Interpol 2020 provides the fundamental pillar for the evolution of the organization, and I encourage all member countries to contribute towards this initiative which will help build the Interpol of the future," Ballestrazzi said. To remain effective in addressing current and emerging security threats, it was essential to strengthen all areas of the organization's activities, both internal and external, Secretary General Jürgen Stock said. "If Interpol is to remain at the forefront of global policing efforts, it is essential that our systems are robust and responsive to the challenges we will face in the future," Stock said. "Interpol 2020 will provide us with the strategic framework to ensure the organization remains a strong and respected voice in global security matters," he added. With the development of strategic partnerships a key element of the Interpol 2020 initiative, the General Assembly endorsed a number of resolutions for closer cooperation with the private sector, including through the I-Checkit initiative for strengthening border management. Delegates also approved the recommendation for Interpol to share its Baseline project with private entities to empower industry and network administrators to recognize, report and remove child abuse material from their networks. The project, which is part of the Interpol's International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database, will enable industry to cross-match image signatures hosted on their network against signatures extracted from some of the worst child abuse materials in ICSE. Interpol's work on the Baseline project and further developments to the ICSE database was presented to the ensuing #WeProtect Children Online global summit in Abu Dhabi. Bringing together world leaders, technology companies and law enforcement, the two-day event, from November 16 to 17, 2015, reviewed the progress made following the inaugural event in London, which saw some 50 countries and international organizations sign up to the We Protect summit's statements of action. The ICSE database has already assisted specialists around the world identify more than 7,700 child sexual abuse victims and the arrest of more than 3,800 offenders. The General Assembly was also updated on the progress of the Working Group on the Processing of Information (GTI) which was conducting a comprehensive review of Interpol's supervisory mechanisms at all levels, including National Central Bureaus, the General Secretariat and the Commission for the Control of Interpol'ss Files (CCF). The 84th Interpol General Assembly in Rwanda, which was attended by some 640 police chiefs and senior law enforcement officials from 145 countries, also elected two new vice-presidents and five new delegates to Interpol's Executive Committee.