The 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the African Peace Support Trainers’ Association (APSTA) was held in Yaounde, Cameroon, on 13th and 15th October 2018. It was chaired by Dr Cecile Oyono, Deputy Director General of the International School for Security Forces (EIFORCES), and attended by member Institutions of the Association. APSTA is a voluntary association of individuals, training centres, academics and institutions working in Africa on building the capacity if peacekeepers. It is a network of training institutions that collaborate on issues towards improving their capacity in training on the areas of peacekeeping and the protection of civilians through the exchange of best practices and lessons learned. The association also provides capacity development support including the enhancement of knowledge on the impact peace support operations have on communities and nations through the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RM).
The AGM aimed to conclude the interim period, finalise the APSTA reform processes and open the new chapter of the Association with better institutional and financial arrangements. This was done by discussing the following items: reform and new headquarters of the Secretariat, Nairobi Secretariat Final Settlement, structure, installation, management and activities of permanent APSTA Secretariat in Yaounde, Cameroon, the annual work plan, review of APSTA strategic plan, establishment of APSTA Secretariat in Cameroon, recruitment of Secretariat staff, Addis Ababa Programs Coordination Office and Norwegian Funding, and finally, the APSTA Board structure 2018-2019. The meeting ended off with the South African region assuming the position of the chair for the year 2018/2019.
All the training and research provided by the APSTA members are conducted in an effort to ensure or enhance the capacity of civilian, military and police who are or who could be deployed to peace support operations missions.
ACCORD’s membership to the APSTA association is in line with the Programme’s strategic goal of supporting efforts at strengthening the AUC and regional capabilities to plan, manage and implement and liquidate PSOs on the continent through the enhancement of the ASF capacities of the civilian component. This initiative also seeks to contribute to improved sustainable capacity for the conduct of peace operations on the continent through ensuring effective operational capability and functioning of organizational systems in the UN/AU/RECs/RMs and the civilian dimension of PSOs.
The Training for Peace Programme at ACCORD is an initiative funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
