By James Amoh Junior
Accra, June 23, GNA – The European Union (EU) and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) have deepened collaboration to address the wide range of security issues in the West African subregion.
The KAIPTC, during a visit to Nigeria to foster cooperation with key stakeholders in the security architecture in West Africa, paid a courtesy call on the European Union office in Abuja, Nigeria.
The trip by the Executive Management Committee of the Centre led by Major General Richard Addo Gyane, the Commandant of the Centre, acknowledged the enormous support of the EU over the years in the promotion of peace and security.
Close cooperation, Maj Gen Gyane said, yielded greater results and that ECOWAS, a key actor in the restoration of peace and security in the sub-region, continued to collaborate with Training Centres of Excellence’s (TCEs), including the KAIPTC to deliver on its mandate through the support of partners like the EU.
The Commandant assured the EU of the Centre’s commitment to ensuring the full implementation of all components in the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) project aimed at supporting the ECOWAS Commission to prevent and manage conflict and security threats in West Africa.
EPSAO is co–funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Maj Gen Gyane said among other things, the EPSAO project also envisioned to strengthen women’s participation in peace and security activities in Africa, an agenda which the KAIPTC was championing through the KAIPTC Women, Peace and Security Institute.
Mr Ruben Alba Aguilera, Acting Head of Cooperation, European Union, who assured the KAIPTC of its continued support, said the German Government had planned to mobilise some £10 million for the second Phase of the EPSAO Project while the EU was considering a similar amount.
He said France was also considering funding support of £1 million with additional funding support from the Spanish Government.
Mr Aguilera said in the next four to five years, “the KAIPTC can count on the support of the EU.”
The Acting Head of Cooperation said the European Union continued to work closely with the ECOWAS Commission in peace building activities and strategies for managing conflicts in the West African sub-region.
The West Africa region is a focal point of old and new forms of armed conflict, including violent extremism, organised crime, piracy, unrest due to social inequality, land use conflicts, and election-related violence.
Therefore, ECOWAS faces profound problems in managing threats to peace and security, despite its good political framework documents, existing political efforts, and practical experience.
Mr Aguilera, also the Team Leader and Head of Section, Democracy, Governance and Migration, said enhanced collaboration would require the strengthening of existing structure and a shared understanding of the importance of collective work.
Ms. Horname Noagbesenu, Director, Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, KAIPTC, giving an update on the first phase of the EPSOA project, said as part of the cooperation framework of the project, training and capacity building with ECOWAS was a key component resulting from a training needs assessment conducted with ECOWAS in 2019 to suit their needs.
She said the Centre, as part of its broader strategy, was focused on bridging the gap between policy and practice.
Ms. Noagbesenu said violent extremism negatively impacted lives and livelihoods, especially the youth and women, which required collaboration to nip it in the bud and safeguard such vulnerable groups.
On women, peace, and security, she reiterated that stronger partnerships and approaches were needed to deepen engagements in women and peacebuilding alongside the creation of an enabling environment for women.
Professor Kwesi Aning, Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, KAIPTC, said the strategic plan of the Centre for 2024/2028 would take into consideration the issues that continued to pose threats to African member states and Europe.
He said: “We need to tell our story in a manner that we understand, and that speaks to our experiences. That means that in setting the context for the next strategic plan, we are asking ourselves, what are the shifts. We are looking at climate variability, leading to threatened livelihoods and massive movement of people (migration). That creates new forms of tensions in communities that are already under stress.
“How do women and the youth fit into this mix that is explosive and ever shifting and increasingly dangerous,” he questioned, and said there was exploitation of those issues by violent extremist groups – a narrative that was increasingly perceived to be fascinating and spoke to people’s experiences.
Prof Aning, therefore, stated the commitment of KAIPTC to work effectively with the Accra Initiative and ECOWAS (two synergistic and collaborative institutions) to provide training and technical support backed by research and policy towards addressing the concerns.
GNA