The Lebanese Army inaugurated the country’s first Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) at the Beirut Naval Base on Wednesday, in a ceremony held under the patronage of Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal.
Funded by France and the European Union, with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other partners, the JRCC is designed to enhance Lebanon’s capacity to safeguard lives at sea and monitor its territorial waters.
The center’s work rests on four pillars: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. It will coordinate responses to maritime emergencies, enabling faster, more efficient interventions in cases of distress calls, maritime accidents and migrant rescues.
General Haykal highlighted the center’s significance, describing it as “a humanitarian message before being a technical achievement,” and a symbol of “genuine partnership between the Lebanese Army, friendly nations and international organizations.” He also stressed the Army’s ongoing missions across the country: maintaining internal security, securing borders, combating terrorism, fighting smuggling and drug trafficking, and upholding state authority.
The opening ceremony gathered high-level officials, including EU Ambassador Sandra De Waele, French Ambassador Hervé Magro, UNDP Resident Representative Blerta Aliko, and representatives from Lebanon’s security agencies and ministries.
Ambassador De Waele noted that the EU has provided advanced equipment, rescue gear and training to strengthen Lebanon’s maritime response capacity. Ambassador Magro reaffirmed France’s long-term commitment through training and expertise sharing. For her part, Aliko underlined the project’s role in “saving lives, protecting the most vulnerable and reinforcing citizens’ trust in the state’s ability to respond to maritime risks.”
The JRCC will also foster closer coordination among the Army, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Internal Security Forces, General Security, Civil Defense and the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force.
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