African Union Commission and KAIPTC dialogue on areas of co-operation
12thApril 2019:The Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Air Vice Marshall Griffiths Santrofi Evans, led a five-man delegation to the African Union Commission (AUC) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 14 – 15 March 2019 to quicken the operationalisation of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two entities.
Charged with the agenda of establishing a task force between the AUC and the KAIPTC, the delegation paid a two-day working visit, to follow up on the last working visit in July 2018.
The delegation’s first point of call at the Commission was with Dr. Kambudzi, Director of the Peace and Security Division, who stressed the Commission’s desire to continue its partnership with the Centre. He said the AU was undergoing some reforms and restructuring to strengthen its mechanisms, and to meet the expectations of partners and members states regarding the impact of its work. He added that the ongoing process was presenting some financial constraints which may linger on into the future.
The reforms, he said, would focus mainly on practical solutions as against theoretical ones on tackling the key challenges confronting the continent.
AVM Evans, on his part, emphasised that KAIPTC has the expertise and experience to support the AU to resolve these issues, citing the Centre’s extensive work on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), which was the Commission’s number one priority.
The delegation which included Dr. Kwesi Aning – Director of FAAR, Ms Horname Noagbesenu – Director PPMED, Wing Commander Christian Eshun (Rtd) – Acting Director Training, and Squadron Leader Ekow Anaman – GSO 1, and Flying Officer Olagboye – ADC to the commandant, also took the opportunity to hold meetings with some of the Centre’s partners and potential partners, including meetings at the Swedish and Norwegian Embassies and the Institute of Peace and Security Studies (IPSS).
For further information, please contact the Corporate Affairs Unit of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on +233302-718200 ext 1104/1203 or +233 550 303030. You can find the KAIPTC on Facebook and twitter as: @Kaiptcgh. You can further find out more about the KAIPTC on our website: www.kaiptc.org.
About the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre:
The Ghana Ministry of Defence (MoD) established the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in 1998 and commissioned it in 2004. The purpose was to build upon and share Ghana’s five decades of internationally acclaimed experience and competence in peace operations with other states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region and the rest of Africa. This was in recognition of the need for training military, police and civilian men and women to meet the changing demands of multidimensional peace operations. The Centre is one of the three (3) Peacekeeping Training Centres of Excellence mandated by the ECOWAS to offer training in peacekeeping and peace support operations (PSO) in Africa.
The Centre delivers training courses in three thematic areas; Peace Support Operations, Conflict Management and Peace and Security Studies and also runs Masters and PhD programmes in same. The KAIPTC has a world-class research department that undertakes research in the thematic areas in Peace and Security. Located in Accra, Ghana, the KAIPTC is an internationally recognized institution and has to date trained and tutored over 18,500 participants and students since its inception.
KAIPTC is a gender-sensitive organisation and committed to gender equality. Following the launch of its gender policy in 2014, the Centre has mainstreamed gender into its policies and programmes, and integrates same in its focal areas, namely training, research and postgraduate education. The Centre has developed a Sexual Harassment policy and fully oriented employees on same. It has also provided a Nursing and Childcare Centre and instituted a paternity leave policy, all with the aim to create a conducive work environment at KAIPTC.