The ECOWAS Commission with the support of the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) launched The Civilian Foundation Course in Peace Support Operations at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC),on December 4th, 2023 in Accra, Ghana.
Organised by the EU/BMZ funded ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) project, this collaborative human capacity-building effort brought together 18 participants drawn from the ECOWAS Standby Capacity Roster for rapid deployment in Peace Support Operations. Eight of the ECOWAS Member States were represented at the Course which is aimed at imparting the basic knowledge and skills of ECOWAS Peace Support Operations (PSOs) Mission Mandate implementation. Furthermore, the Course sought to promote the awareness of multidimensional field operations and how to work with military and police components efficiently for successful operation in ECOWAS missions.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Deputy Commandant of the KAIPTC, Air Commodore David Anetey Akrong, welcomed the participants and facilitators, mentioning the importance of this course and its alignment to the Centre's strategic plans of being the preferred Training Centre of Excellence for regional peace and security training.
Ms Franziska Jebens, Head of Cooperation and Representative of the German Embassy, in the Republic of Ghana, expressed appreciation for the longstanding collaboration between the BMZ, the ECOWAS Commission, and the KAIPTC in providing capacity for the ECOWAS Standby Force. She further recounted the changing nature of conflict trends and commended the tremendous efforts of the ECOWAS Commission in dealing with them through capacity building whilst linking the course as direct German support to Regional Security.
His Excellency Baba Gana Wakil, the ECOWAS Commission Resident Representative to the Republic of Ghana in his remarks thanked the KAIPTC for their support to the Commission by churning out numerous courses, research, and press releases that speak to the ECOWAS regional peace architecture, particularly for the CFC which feeds into the contemporary multidimensional peace operations for regional peace. He thanked the facilitators who were drawn from the UN, AU, ECOWAS, and KAIPTC for their expertise in training the people and the EPSAO Project for the technical and financial support, and declared the course officially opened.
This training is organised with the financial support of the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), through the GIZ-ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) Project.
For further details, please contact:
Dr. Danjuma Aku: daku@ecowas.int
Ms. Lydia Hagan: lydia.hagan@giz.de