Accra Oct. 13, GNA - A six-day seminar on peacekeeping opened at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre on Wednesday with a call for efforts to ensure peace in the West Africa Sub-Region. "Without peace and security there can be no development but we need to develop, hence the need for peace," Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Erskine, Former Commander of the United Nations International Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), who was the Guest of Honour, said.

He said the training programme was relevant to the Sub-Region, which was rich in natural and human resources but lacked peace. The seminar dubbed: "The United Nations Standardized Training Module Level Three" is for senior management staff of peacekeeping forces to enhance the peacekeeping capacity of Africa.

About 70 participants from 30 countries would be taken through simulation exercises to help instructors obtain feedback on the efficacy of the training delivery format.

Lt. Gen. Erskine stressed the need for capacity building, saying the effectiveness of the African Union peacekeeping intervention would depend on the effectiveness of the Sub-Regional Security Mechanism. He said strengthening this capacity required good political-will that would have respect for agreements, financial control and troops and be part of the peacekeeping process.

"There is also the need for a viable political institution, such as (Economic Community of West Africa States) ECOWAS, and the availability of a well-trained, well-equipped and well-organized machinery that is able to move at very short notification."

Lt. Gen Erskine urged the centre to develop a module to address capacity building.

Major General Anis Bajwa, Director of Change Management at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said the process of peacekeeping placed emphasis on training.

"There is the need for standardized training for all those who participate in peacekeeping," he said.