Annette Leijenaar and Gustavo de Carvalho, from ISS, as well as John Ahere from ACCORD, attended a workshop organised by the Cairo Centre for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa (CCCPA) entitled On the Road to Nairobi: Partnerships in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Training and Capacity Building. This workshop was organised as a preparation for the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI). The workshop took stock on what has been achieved in peacekeeping training in Africa, with a particular focus on the Japanese engagement in supporting training centres in the continent. Considering the TICAD will be held for the first time in Africa, it provided training centres and other participants the opportunity to share some developments around training, responses to the peacekeeping and peacebuilding reviews, as well as developments around African Peace and Security Architecture. Sessions of the workshop focused on the following topics:

• UN Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Reviews: Implications for Training and Capacity Building in Africa
• Training and Capacity Building for an Evolving Africa Peace and Security Architecture: Staying Ahead of the Curve
• Partnerships in Training and Capacity Building in Peace and Security: International Cooperation and Local Ownership
• Japanese Support for Training and Capacity Building in Africa: Successes and Challenges

Challenges faced by the Japanese government in cooperation were discussed and presented by many centres funded by Japan. In particular, discussions occur in a context in assessing potential challenges for Japan as it becomes more active in peacekeeping contexts. African training centres were able to highlight that, to some extent are quite ahead of the curve in terms of coherence and coordination, and that there is a requirement for the UN to follow the diverse training architecture on the continent. The changing focus of Japanese policy on peacekeeping is playing a role for Japan, and a transformation (even if small) that enables their peacekeepers to do more. CCCPA is expecting to use the findings and discussions from this workshop to bring voices around training and capacity building in Africa to be discussed around TICAD VI. Recommendations will be made to the meeting, particularly around continued support to training and capacity building, modalities of funding engagements, enhanced focus on peacebuilding, conflict prevention and supporting the development of the African Union (AU) and RECs/RMs.