The 4119 young people residing in the Algarve who turn 18 this year will all visit the municipality of Portimão in two periods of the year. Why? Because, according to the protocol signed yesterday between the mayor of Portimão and the Secretary of State for Defense, it is this city that receives, this year and in the next ones, the National Defense Day (DDN).
Thus, the Ministry of National Defense will organize the DDN in two periods, the first already taking place, from April 23 to May 19, with young people living in the municipalities of Portimão, Lagos, Lagoa, Monchique and Silves, and the second between 4 November and December 15, for residents of the other Algarve municipalities.
With this, as underlined by Secretary of State Berta Cabral during the protocol signing ceremony, which took place in a wing of the Portimão Museum, young people from the Algarve – boys and girls – no longer have to travel to Beja. And the state still saves money.
Yesterday morning, when Isilda Gomes and Berta Cabral visited the activities planned for this first wave of DDN in Portimão, followed by a series of graduates and officers from the Navy, Army, GNR and official entities such as the National Civil Protection Authority , there was already a group of young people there (where curiously the girls were in the majority), who would later have lunch at the expense of the State, thus spending a whole day in contact with the services that the Portuguese Armed Forces offer. "Having completed the Mandatory Military Service, it follows from the law that young people have contact with the Armed Forces through the National Defense Day", recalled the Secretary of State.
The protocol signed yesterday with the Municipality of Portimão was the first of its kind celebrated by the Ministry of National Defense with an autarchy across the country, a pioneering spirit that Secretary of State Berta Cabral insisted on recognizing.
Under the protocol, the Algarve Chamber provides the Museum's auditorium and one of its rooms for the realization of the DDN, as well as facilities for the lunch that is offered to young people.
The municipality does not spend, however, anything on this free provision of spaces and human resources, but in return the municipality gains, and a lot, since the services of catering for lunch, the necessary transport for the young people participating in the DDN and other services involved are contracted by the Ministry of Defense, preferably with companies from Portimão.
Still in the chapter of its competences, the autarchy has also been a “facilitating agent in the establishment of contacts and partnerships with local and regional agents with a view to promoting the activities foreseen under the protocol”.
Protocol follows the good collaboration between the Chamber of Portimão and the Ministry of Defense
The protocol was signed by the Mayor of Portimão Isilda Gomes and the Secretary of State for National Defense Berta Cabral.
The official highlighted the «pioneering spirit that represents the decentralization of National Defense Day in this city, under the ongoing reform of the Armed Forces, which have a dimension far beyond the military aspect, as they also perform relevant services for the benefit of the community in the areas of education, health, research, search and rescue».
After highlighting the fundamental role of the Armed Forces as a guarantor of sovereignty and citizenship, Isilda Gomes underlined that “young people have the opportunity to cultivate, through participation in National Defense Day, the physical sense of belonging to a nation, before the which should assume their duties responsibly'.
For the General Director of Military Personnel and Recruitment, "this protocol aims to contribute to the civic formation of young people who participate in the initiative, while allowing for a closer relationship between civil society and the military institution."
«Constituting nowadays the only opportunity of direct contact of the majority of the youth with the Armed Forces of the country, the National Defense Day will summon to Portimão all young citizens born in 1995 and currently residing in the Algarve», referred Álvaro Coelho.
The official said that “the history of existing relations between this municipality and the Ministry of National Defence, as evidenced by the carrying out in this city of several important initiatives, such as the celebration of Navy Day or the Ocean Revival project, contributed to the choice of Portimão, which involved the transfer of four decommissioned warships to form an artificial reef off Alvor, and the subsequent creation of a nucleus at the Portimão Museum, where the history of these ships is portrayed».
According to Álvaro Coelho, «the event seeks to sensitize young people to the need and importance of national defense, highlighting its multidimensional character, with military and non-military components, promoting an awareness of these matters and instilling the concept that it is a duty of all of us, irrespective of social status, educational qualifications or profession».
The Secretary of State, for her part, also underlined the role of the Armed Forces in science and research, revealing that there are currently "67 research projects in our academies, in cooperation with companies and universities", in the areas of "robotics , drones, fire fighting and health».
Comments