The United Nations has said the reliance of UN-backed peacekeeping missions on political solutions is delaying peace operations on the African continent.
Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operation at the UN, Jean-Pierre Lacroix says the challenge, including targeting of UN peacekeeping troops and high civilian vulnerability is taking a lot of effort at the expense of moves to restore stability in troubled areas on the continent.
According to him, even though a lot of gains have been made in peacekeeping operations, “the political solutions that we are supporting with peacekeeping are very slow to materialize, and that leaves us without clear prospects for exit in most of the places where peacekeepers are deployed”.
H.E Jean-Pierre in his address during a visit to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Center (KAIPTC) noted that the Secretary General’s Action for Peacekeeping Initiative in dealing with conflict situations is again being thwarted further by the increasing danger faced by troops on the ground. “Today’s peacekeeping environment is becoming much more dangerous and challenging; and as a reflection of that, we have many more fatalities in peacekeeping. The blue helmet or the blue flag doesn’t protect anymore, our peacekeepers actually become a target; of course they are working with the UN. And we have to address this new challenge.”
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operation at the UN added “we are operating in most places where peacekeeping is deployed with high number of vulnerable civilians, and as a result of that, the protection of civilians is becoming increasingly important in our mission.”
H.E Jean-Pierre nonetheless argued that effort must be channeled on improving impact and effectiveness through training and collaborations relevant stakeholders and institutions.
Commandant of the KAIPTC, Air Vice Marshal Griffiths S. Evans on his part said the Center would continue to provide training and capacity building in the areas of peace operations and conflict resolutions for peace builders.
He told the gathering “KAIPTC has a niche, and our niche is to trade peace and security operations, that is what we do and we do it best. We have plied our trade with ECOWAS, African Union. We have done it very well and extensively worked with them to give lots of trainings.” AVM Evans added that “unfortunately, we have not sunk deep into the United Nations, although we have organized a few courses with the UN. We want to break into the United Nations, to be the eyes and ears of the UN in Africa.” The Commandant expressed the KAIPTC’s readiness and commitment to collaborating with the UN to find lasting solutions to the challenges in peace operations on the continent and other parts of the world.
Commendation
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operation has commended the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC) for fostering peace on the African continent.
H.E Jean-Pierre Lacroix says the Center has proven itself as a very critical ally in the peacebuilding process through its role in training and building capacity of the persons involved in peacekeeping operations among others on the continent. According to him, “the Center is a well-known institution and I am glad to be here. I congratulate you for the very rich and diverse activities you are carrying out.”
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations at the UN said “I believe that it is very important for us at the UN, particularly the peace operations department to be very strongly connected to this institution.” He was speaking during a visit to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Center (KAIPTC).
The KAIPTC is an academic institution that primarily provides training and research in peacekeeping and peace operations. H.E Jean-Pierre noted “you are very strategic in the sense that you provide both the type of training that is very operational and some of it directly related to peacekeeping operations, but you also have a more academic research type of activity which I thinks it’s equally very important because we need to be both focused on improving our impact and our effectiveness through training, but we also need to take a broader look at key challenges of these peace operations that the world and indeed African is facing.”
“The support and thinking that the Center brings I think is very outstanding” he added.
Head of Corporate Affairs at the KAIPTC, Rosemond Aryeetey in her remarks to the gathering reiterated the Center’s resolve to prioritize women’s inclusion in conflict resolution and peace operations.
She revealed that the KAIPTC is currently running about four hundred courses focused on diverse aspects of peace operations in English and French. She says the institution will soon include additional languages as part of efforts to become the leading and preferred international Center for training, educating, and providing research on African Peace and Security.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
