The Training for Peace in Africa Programme at ACCORD (TfP/ACCORD) participated in the seminar hosted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) on “Future African Peace Operations: From Scenarios to Force Preparations” held on 25 April 2013, in Pretoria, South Africa. The objective was to increase knowledge and agreement on the role of scenarios as a necessary element for planning – since scenario planning provides a key platform and future view on what can be expected and how best to prepare for future peace operations. The Programme was represented by Ms Seun Abiola – Peacekeeping Unit Senior Programme Officer.
The seminar provided a platform for the broad range of actors in peace operations to take stock of recent developments within the African peace operations environment which is continuously transforming, and in particular, the number of complex situations which planners are currently having to respond to, in order to ensure that Africa continues to fulfil its role in future peace operations in an evolving context. The forum also provided an opportunity for Ms Nolufefe Dwabayo, Director of the National Office for Coordination of Peace Missions (NOCPM) in South Africa’s Department for International Relations and Cooperation Office (DIRCO), to provide an overview of the White Paper for Peace Operations.
The outcome was the drawing of relevant and high quality applied research from practitioners and academicians for better planning for multidimensional peace operations, in response to the changing dynamics of conflict on the African continent, the impact of which will be an improvement to the overall efficiency and effectiveness in the preparation, planning, management and monitoring of multidimensional peace operations in Africa, especially as it relates to the African Union (AU) Peace Support Operations (PSOs) and the African Standby Force (ASF). The discussions at the seminar contribute to the work of TfP/ACCORD in increasing awareness, understanding, as well as knowledge of better planning for multidimensional peace operations in order to improve overall efficiency in peace operations, and in highlighting that civilian and police personnel are pertinent to the effectiveness of multidimensional peace operations.
The Training for Peace (TfP) in Africa Programme is an initiative funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
