EPSAO Project Supports In-Mission Training of Staff Officers Deployed to ECOWAS Peace Support Operations in the Gambia
07 Jul, 2023The ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture (EPSAO) project is currently supporting the pilot In-Mission Training of Staff Officers deployed to the ECOWAS Peace Support Operations (PSOs) mission in the Gambia. The training which commenced on the 3rd of July will end on the 7th of July 2023 in Banjul, the Gambia.
The aim of the training is to strengthen the capacities of the deployed personnel in understanding of the framework in which they are operating in.
“In-Mission Training” specifically refers to capacity building activities undertaken after the deployment of members of the military, police, or civilian peacekeeping personnel to peace missions. It is envisaged that the training will help such individuals to implement the right operational procedures equivalent to their respective roles in PSOs.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Resident Representative of the ECOWAS in the Gambia, Her Excellency Mrs. Miatta Lily French, who was represented by Mr. Claude Kondor, stated that ECOWAS has been at the forefront in the search of sustainable peace and security within its Member States. “Without peace and security, development and economic integration of the entire region will be very difficult to achieve”, he stated.
Mr. Kondor revealed that various protocols have been articulated and adopted to address the numerous security challenges that transformed the ECOWAS region into an epicenter of warlords and conflict entrepreneurs – including the 1999 Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security; the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance of 2001; the 2008 ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework and other key documents. He highlighted that the objectives and expected outcomes of the In-Mission training are appropriate in equipping staff officers to carry out the correct operational procedures relevant to their roles and to ensure that Operating Procedures of both ECOWAS Headquarters and the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) Mission Headquarters are harmonized, standardized, and documented to simplify information flow and provide sufficient access for staff officers.
This training is organised by the ECOWAS Commission, Koffi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and GIZ-EPSAO project, which is co- funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
