Guyana is this week hosting MECODEX 2025, a major four-day regional disaster response simulation exercise designed to strengthen flood preparedness and enhance cooperation among nations across the Americas.
The Mechanism for Disaster Cooperation Exercise officially got underway on Monday, bringing together disaster response experts, military officials, and humanitarian agencies for a large-scale drill simulating a flood emergency.
Organized in partnership with the Inter-American Defence Board (IADB) and Guyana’s Civil Defence Commission (CDC), MECODEX 2025 aims to rigorously test national and international disaster response protocols while promoting greater civil-military coordination.
“To host the leadership of the Inter-American Defence Board is a great honour and augurs well for our civil-military coordination,” said CDC Director General Colonel Nazrul Hussain. “We welcome the foreign delegations and look forward to a successful exercise here in Guyana.”
CDC Deputy Director General, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Thomas, emphasized the strategic importance of the event, calling it more than just a drill. “It is a strategic opportunity to strengthen inter-agency coordination, evaluate our response mechanisms, and build the confidence of those entrusted with safeguarding lives during disasters,” he noted.
MECODEX 2025 is being held under the framework of the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas (CDMA), with the IADB serving as the permanent secretariat for the initiative.
Brazilian Colonel José Carlos Diaz Torres highlighted the technological backbone of the simulation, noting the involvement of SICODE—a disaster response simulation platform developed by the Military Institute of Engineering in Brazil. “Platforms like SICODE allow participating countries to simulate real-world challenges and fine-tune their response protocols. This exercise is strictly humanitarian in nature and underscores the value of regional preparedness,” he said.
Now in its fourth iteration, MECODEX has grown in scale and significance since its inception as a virtual tabletop exercise in 2022. It was hosted in Ecuador in 2023 and Peru in 2024 before making its debut in the Caribbean region this year.
The exercise forms part of a broader regional effort to ensure that international disaster assistance is both timely and effective, while respecting the sovereignty and specific needs of each participating nation.
