The African Civil-Military Coordination (ACMC) Programme at ACCORD ran its Southern Africa Regional Civil-Military Coordination (CIMIC) Course from 2-12 May 2006. ACMC programme partner – Brigadier General Nkonyeni, the commandant of the South African National War College – officially opened this, the second Southern African CIMIC Course on 2 May 2006.
In his opening speech, General Nkonyeni urged the officers to remember that training in capacity building should no longer merely be emphasized, but that it is now a necessity. He also stressed that the contemporary world has proven that dimensions of distance and time have shrunk, in that no one state or nation can afford to be inwardly focused – thus the need for countries to learn and assist each other, and create opportunities for peace and security to be established.
The course drew 37 participants from 19 countries, mostly from SADC, while others were from the rest of the African continent and some from Europe and Asia. This course is part of a series of courses that are conducted in partnership with five peacekeeping training institutions in Africa.
The programme is coordinated by ACCORD and funded by the Government of Finland. On graduation the participants will use the newly acquired knowledge to enhance their Civil -Military Coordination responsibilities, and others will use it to train future Civil-Military Relations Officers in their respective countries and places of work.
