A pilot programme focused on fostering peace relations and operations among missions in Africa has been launched.

The aim of the pilot course is to enhance the capacity of Humanitarian, Development and Peace (HDP) actors to work more coherently in attaining sustainable peace in conflict and post-conflict settings in Africa.

Major General Francis Ofori, Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) in his opening remarks stated that a baseline study report commissioned by KAIPTC and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) revealed the need for flexible and context-specific application of the HDP Nexus across the contexts of peace operations in Africa.

“The report identifies potential roles that could be played by different actors as convening powers on specific projects in order to streamline initiatives. The report also recommends greater commitment towards the implementation of collective outcomes through joint analysis, mapping and planning by all the actors in peace missions,” Major Ofori said.

“There’s a need for a joint approach in close collaboration with national actors ensures holistic and conflict-sensitive interventions that are driven by a collective quest for sustainable peace and these findings have been translated into a tailor-made training curriculum for relevant actors working in peace operation contexts in Africa” he pointed.

German Ambassador to Ghana, Christoph Retzlaff on his part lauded the Commandant of the KAIPTC for the collaboration between Ghana and Germany in supporting such a novel and innovative course which seeks to improve multi-sectoral cooperation to achieve lasting human security, development and peace especially in fragile communities.