Danish, Austrian Governments support Conflict Prevention Course and Political Advisor Course respectively
Accra Ghana: The Danish Government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supported the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) to hold a two-week Conflict Prevention Course to equip participants to better understand the causes and prevention of conflicts in Africa. An opening ceremony was held at the KAIPTC in Accra on Monday, July 4, 2022, to mark the official commencement of the course.
The Conflict Prevention Course was a two-week residential programme, which equipped participants with a sound and comprehensive understanding of the causes and nature of armed conflicts in Africa, and explored innovative approaches for preventing them.
Overall, the course is aimed at developing a robust and flexible pool of well-trained civilian, police and military personnel who can function in ECOWAS, AU, and UN field missions, as well as contribute to conflict prevention efforts in various capacities in their respective countries.
The course is structured as a collaborative problem based learning programme and its delivery will involve lectures, in-class discussions, case studies, brain storming among others. Topics to be covered on the course will include Theories of conflicts, Indigenous approaches to conflict prevention, the nature of the African State, Natural Resource Governance and Conflict Prevention; Security Sector Reform, Conflict analysis and conflict mapping among others. Officers from 10 African countries and a participant from Germany presently serving in MINUSMA in Mali are participating in the course.
Further, the Political Advisor Course was also officially opened on 4th July and officially closed on 15th July 2022. The course aims to equip Political Advisors in a mission to enable them provide the mission leadership with proper analysis of political developments, trends and emerging issues in the country or region and make recommendations on possible policies, strategies and other measures to address issues of concern. The course curriculum, among others, focused on the Role of a Political Advisor, Negotiation and Mediation Principles, Reporting, Briefing and Public Diplomacy as well as dealing with the media. The course was developed by the KAIPTC in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence.