TfP Partners contribute in African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA) Harmonisation Workshop
4 Jun 2014
As part of its Annual Work Plans for 2014, the African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA) undertook the harmonization of Police Pre-Deployment Training (PDT) for the AU African Standby Force (ASF) and African-led Peace Support Operations (PSO) for working together to improve the capacity for peace support operations in Africa. The workshop was held in Accra, Ghana, from 6-9 May 2014.
The workshop sought to build on the Civilian Peacekeepers Foundation Harmonization Workshop that was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 2-5 December 2013. Together, the two workshops provided opportunities for the APSTA to contribute towards the efforts of the African Union Commission (AUC), in particular the Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) and the Regional Economic Communities/Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) in harmonizing and standardizing ASF and regional standby forces related training. The workshop was attended by police training and police professional subject-matter experts and police training experts from different institutions.
ISS/TfP Senior Researcher and Training Coordinator, Andre Roux, played a critical role during this Workshop. Efforts by ISS/TfP to review the United Nations Protection of Civilians (UNPOC), UNPOC Training of Trainer (ToT), pre-deployment as well as Mid-Level-Managers (MLM) develop and execution of training over the last 12 months has collaborated with the Norwegian Police Directorate (POD), who has ensured that ISS/TfP is at the cutting edge of knowledge and experience in police training that is sought after at the AU PSOD as well as at APSTA.
Like the Civilian Peacekeepers Foundation Harmonization Workshop (2013), the main purpose of the Police PDT workshop is to harmonize and standardize Police training delivered by member institutions of the Association that have established and are delivering pre-deployment training for AU/UN and RECs/RMs missions, including the ASF and other African-led PSOs.
The main objectives of the Police PDT Harmonization Workshop are to:
• Review the curricula developed by APSTA member institutions for Police pre-deployment training
• Revise, update, harmonize and standardize the content of all Police pre-deployment training relating to AU/UN missions, the ASF and African-led missions
• Certify that the revised, updated and harmonized/standardized pre-deployment training package meets the minimum standards of the AU/UN missions, and the ASF and other African-led PSOs. The package will cover such thematic and cross-cutting issues as gender, protection of civilians and mission support, and will be designed to equip training audiences with PSO knowledge and skills required for successful PSO mission mandate implementation
The workshop involved a comparison of the respective packages on offer by member institutions, and standardize the content, including aims and objectives, learning outcomes, methodologies and other salient aspects of the Police pre-deployment training.
The revised package is to be designed in a modular fashion to facilitate flexibility in its use for the delivery of multidimensional, multidisciplinary and integrated training audiences, with emphasis on increased participation of females.
The workshop yield a harmonized, standardized Police PDT package for the ASF and other African-led PSOs, that is certified for adoption and roll out by APSTA member institutions conducting or desiring to conduct ASF and RECs/RMs standby forces. The harmonized package include provisions on AU minimum standards, including the criteria for identification and selection of potential training audience. It provided guidelines on the rostering of suitable trainees by the AU and RECs/RMs, and how the knowledge and skills of such trained personnel could be further developed, employed and deployed.
The workshop built into the package general guidelines on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) consistent with AU and RECs/RMs training standards and other contractual requirements. Thus, besides the outcomes outlined already, the M&E mechanisms ensured quality control, as well as enhanced the achievement of results and impact, including the rostering, employment and deployment by the AU and RECs/RMs.
ISS/TfP Senior Researcher and Training Coordinator, Andre Roux, played a critical role during this Workshop. Efforts by ISS/TfP to review the United Nations Protection of Civilians (UNPOC), UNPOC Training of Trainer (ToT), pre-deployment as well as Mid-Level-Managers (MLM) develop and execution of training over the last 12 months has collaborated with the Norwegian Police Directorate (POD), who has ensured that ISS/TfP is at the cutting edge of knowledge and experience in police training that is sought after at the AU PSOD as well as at APSTA.
Like the Civilian Peacekeepers Foundation Harmonization Workshop (2013), the main purpose of the Police PDT workshop is to harmonize and standardize Police training delivered by member institutions of the Association that have established and are delivering pre-deployment training for AU/UN and RECs/RMs missions, including the ASF and other African-led PSOs.
The main objectives of the Police PDT Harmonization Workshop are to:
• Review the curricula developed by APSTA member institutions for Police pre-deployment training
• Revise, update, harmonize and standardize the content of all Police pre-deployment training relating to AU/UN missions, the ASF and African-led missions
• Certify that the revised, updated and harmonized/standardized pre-deployment training package meets the minimum standards of the AU/UN missions, and the ASF and other African-led PSOs. The package will cover such thematic and cross-cutting issues as gender, protection of civilians and mission support, and will be designed to equip training audiences with PSO knowledge and skills required for successful PSO mission mandate implementation
The workshop involved a comparison of the respective packages on offer by member institutions, and standardize the content, including aims and objectives, learning outcomes, methodologies and other salient aspects of the Police pre-deployment training.
The revised package is to be designed in a modular fashion to facilitate flexibility in its use for the delivery of multidimensional, multidisciplinary and integrated training audiences, with emphasis on increased participation of females.
The workshop yield a harmonized, standardized Police PDT package for the ASF and other African-led PSOs, that is certified for adoption and roll out by APSTA member institutions conducting or desiring to conduct ASF and RECs/RMs standby forces. The harmonized package include provisions on AU minimum standards, including the criteria for identification and selection of potential training audience. It provided guidelines on the rostering of suitable trainees by the AU and RECs/RMs, and how the knowledge and skills of such trained personnel could be further developed, employed and deployed.
The workshop built into the package general guidelines on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) consistent with AU and RECs/RMs training standards and other contractual requirements. Thus, besides the outcomes outlined already, the M&E mechanisms ensured quality control, as well as enhanced the achievement of results and impact, including the rostering, employment and deployment by the AU and RECs/RMs.