ACCORD was invited by the African Union Commission (AUC), jointly with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights and with the kind support of Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), to attend the Development of the Training Curriculum Workshop on International Humanitarian Law (IHL), International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and Conduct and Discipline as per the African Union (AU) Compliance and Accountability Framework held in Nairobi, Kenya from 21-23 November 2018.
The Workshop was designed to ensure that all the AU missions are compliant with IHRL and IHL, as well as accepted international norms of conduct and discipline. In this regard, the Workshop aimed to draft a Comprehensive Framework for IHL, IHRL and Conduct and Discipline Compliance and Accountability for AU Peace Support Operations (PSO), taking into account the nature of contemporary threats on the African continent and contexts in which AU PSOs are deployed.
By the end of the two and a half days of discussion, the attendees had designed a draft of the core modules and issues of IHL, IHRL, conduct and discipline inclusive of the protection of civilians to be included into the training curriculum of personnel working in PSO’s. The Workshop further developed a matrix of existing and envisaged continental, regional and national training courses, into which the core modules should be integrated, and finally, drafted the measures on compliance and accountability to guide, assist and provide quality assurance support to Troop Contributing Countries, Regional Economic Communities and Training Centers of Excellence responsible for conducting the trainings.
ACCORD as a training institute appreciated the opportunity to engage with the AUC and partners in designing, drafting and compiling a training curriculum on IHL and IHRL which will better enhance the discipline, conduct and accountability of AU personnel in PSO’s. Through the discussions in the Workshop, ACCORD was also able to grasp the nuanced issues and challenges present in AU PSO’s so as to better tailor ACCORD’s trainings for PSO personnel in the future.
ACCORD was represented by Ms Stephanie de Freitas, Programme Officer in the Operations Department.
