ACCORD attended the APSTA Secretariat Staff Recruitment Selection Committee Meeting from 25 to 26 November 2019. APSTA’s activities are coordinated through its secretariat which is located in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Following the resolutions of the Extraordinary General Meeting of APSTA held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 4 May 2019, the Transitional Secretariat began to coordinate the process of the appointment of the new APSTA Executive Secretary. The appointment was then carried out on the 12th of August 2019.
The appointment committee that also constituted the members of the Board of APSTA was: ACCORD, South Africa; International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC), Kenya; École de Maintien de la Paix Alioune Blondin Beye (EMOABB), Mali; National Defence College (NDC), Nigeria; and Rwanda Peace Academy (RPA), Rwanda).
On 13 August 2019, the Board of APSTA met the Government of Cameroon representatives who officially handed over the offers made to APSTA by the Government of Cameroon. These offers included the Secretariat premises, office furniture and equipment, two vehicles and operational funds. This occasion marked the official formalisation of APSTA’s operations in Cameroon following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that stipulated the official status of APSTA in Cameroon.
Since the formalisation of APSTA’s operations, the newly appointed Executive Secretary and ACCORD as the current Chair of APSTA have been structuring the operations of the Secretariat, in particular the process of recruiting the Secretariat staff including the structuring of the routine daily activities of the Secretariat. With the coordination of the Executive Secretary, the Recruitment Selection Committee is currently meeting and conducting interviews for the prospective Secretariat staff and will make recommendations on appointment that will be considered by the Board that will meet on 27 November 2019 with the AGM subsequently sitting the following day 29 November 2019 to make its resolutions on the recommendations.
This recruitment process is being coordinated by the newly appointed Executive Secretary Dr. Cécile Oyono, who is being assisted by the current Chair of the association, ACCORD.
Participation in activities that focus on peace operations capacity enhancement, is in line with ACCORD/TfP Programme’s strategic goal of supporting efforts at strengthening the AUC, RECs/RMs and member states operational capacities and capability to plan, manage and implement PSOs or responding through other intervention modalities on the continent. The support aims at ensuring effective functioning of organizational systems in the UN/AU/RECs/RMs, member states and mission structures.
The Training for Peace Programme at ACCORD is an initiative funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
ACCORD/TfP is being represented by Brig. Gen. James Pumzlie Machakaire, Coordinator of the PSOs Cluster and Rumbidzaishe Matambo. For more information on ACCORD’s work relating to the TfP Programme, please contact Ms Sibusisiwe Nkosi, Programme Officer, Peace Support Operations Cluster on sibusisiwe@accord.org.za.
