Lord Ahmad Of Wimbledon praises KAIPTC for contributing to Global Peacekeeping

The British Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and Minister of State for the Commonwealth and United Nations, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, has lauded KAIPTC’s contribution to global peacekeeping, citing its hallmark of training over fifteen thousand participants for peace support operations around the world. He further noted that the Centre is the only training institution on the continent to have a Women, Peace and Security Institute.

He made these remarks during a round table meeting held at KAIPTC to discuss ‘UN Peacekeeping Reform: the UN and Africa’. He stressed the UK government’s support for reform in peacekeeping through improvement in three areas – Planning, Pledges, and performance. These 3P’s, contained in the joint ‘Communiqué signed at the London Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial last September, is considered a blueprint for peacekeeping reform.

He added that given the growing demands on peacekeeping, it is now more than ever important, for countries to work together to make the UN system and missions as effective as they can be.

Some key personalities in attendance included the Minister for Defence, Ghana, Chief of Defense Staff, US Ambassador, and the UN Country Director. This round-table discussion provided a rare opportunity for Lord Ahmad to engage with a range of individuals who have peacekeeping experience, are involved with developing peacekeeping related policy, deliver training for peacekeeping roles, and contribute to the academic analysis concerning peacekeeping. Attendees shared different perspectives on reforms needed within the UN, the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse and the ever urgent need to eliminate it, ideas on improving the low number of women in peacekeeping, the global threats of violent extremism, among others.

The meeting was to enable Lord Ahmed collect insightful ideas and experiences to inform and guide him in areas of his work.