2-week Course on Humanitarian Assistance in Wes Africa opens
By Christabel Oboshie ANNAN, Accra
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in collaboration with the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR) has commenced a two-week course on Humanitarian Assistance and Women, Peace, Security in West Africa Core Course (HAWA WPS CC) in Accra.
About 33 participants from 11 Countries namely Austria, Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin and Sierra Leon will partake in the course.
The course which is supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the Austrian Ministry of Defence (MOD) is aimed at strengthening capacities for effective humanitarian assistance.
The training will provide participants with thorough knowledge and skills of the humanitarian sector using the Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus Approach amongst others.
Speaking at the official opening of the course, the Deputy KAIPTC Commandant, Air Core George Arko Dadzie said that the course will discuss some of the hurdles to peace and development West Africa faces today and will explore the grand variety of means and opportunities to meet the increasing number of inter-connected and transnational challenges.
He noted that participants will learn in detail about mechanisms for coordinating measures and mutual understanding between civilian, police, and military actors throughout their joint efforts in providing humanitarian assistance in highly challenging situations.
He added that participants will be deliberating on topics ranging from the root causes of disasters to the protection of civilians and human rights standards, guidelines for the use of armed escorts, negotiation of humanitarian access, as well as cultural awareness and gender and diversity concerns in humanitarian action.
The Deputy Commandant who read on behalf of the Commandant at the KAIPTC Major General Richard Addo Gyane stated that the course runs for the eleventh time at the centre.
He indicated that the centre has therefore introduced a team of regional and international facilitators with very experienced practitioners to share the summary of their best practices, lessons learned and experience gained in the field during the programme.
This according to him will help to foster human capacities, institutional interaction and civil-military cooperation.
Air Core George Arko Dadzie said that KAIPTC envisions facilitating the formation of personal and professional relationships among participants and their respective organizations with the goal of information exchange, stronger collaboration, effective cooperation and speedy reactions to counter upcoming emergencies.
The Deputy Commandant at the KAIPTC expressed his sincere gratitude to the Austrian Government, in particular the Austrian Centre for Peace and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence for their support to strengthening peace and security in Africa.
The Director of the Austrian Centre for Peace, Moritz Ehrmann noted that the course will provide an important contribution to developing capacity for effective humanitarian crisis response in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Region.
He added that he looks forward to learning more from different contexts around the world to acquire a clearer perspective of the programme.
The Programmes Manager for the Austrian Centre for Peace, Fata Ndour reiterated that the programme will provide knowledge and build the capacity of actors in the field.
She further stated that it will strengthen the cooperation between civilians and the military to have good results in terms of Humanitarian Assistance.
