Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has commenced a mentorship training program, dubbed Youth Starts with You (YSwY), with an aim to enhance leadership and guidance skills within its own ranks.
The mentorship course was opened on Tuesday 24 September 2024, at the KAIPTC Conference Room 3, by the Deputy Commandant, KAIPTC – Air Commodore (A/Cdre) David Akrong, and the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Team-Leader in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Peace and Security Architecture Operations (EPSAO) – Teresa Krafft.
Speaking at the opening program of the three-day seminar, the Deputy Commandant said the training will provide tools, techniques, and insights on how best to engage, inspire, and mentor KAIPTC’s young staff, interns, and trainees in a meaningful way, and equip participants to be role models, and pillars of support in young people’s growth journeys.
He added that mentorship is an invaluable asset in the professional and personal development of individuals, particularly young people, which fosters an environment where knowledge is transferred, talents are nurtured, and guidance is provided to those who are still finding their way in their careers and lives.
He added that the training is an opportunity for selected senior staff of KAIPTC, to refine and sharpen their skills as mentors, and give back to the young community, ensuring that the knowledge and experience they have amassed over the years, are not only preserved, but also effectively passed on to the next generation.
He went on to say that KAIPTC, as an institution that is internationally recognized for its contribution to peace and security, believes that before it can impact the wider world, it must first invest in its own community, by nurturing the talent within its own walls.
The leadership of KAIPTC is keenly aware that its greatest asset is not the buildings they operate in, or the technologies, but the people who dedicate their time, energy, and intellect to making KAIPTC the leading institution, thus it is essential that its young professionals are guided by those with wisdom and experience, A/Cdre Akrong stated.
He concluded that the mentorship program aims to create strong, lasting relationships between KAIPTC’s senior staff, and its younger members, to create a relationship which serves as conduits through which institutional knowledge flows freely, ensuring that core values and standards remain high, even as the Centre grows and adapts to new challenges in the peacekeeping field.
Madam Teresa Krafft, taking her turn said, the YSwY Mentorship programme is one of the last activities that is supported by the German Government through EPSAO programme implemented by GIZ, as its Grant Agreement with the KAIPTC comes to a close on 30 September, and the project phase closes on 31 December 2024.
She however affirmed that it is not the end of cooperation, as the Government of Germany has decided to commission a follow-on phase under the name ECOWAS Peace, Security and Governance project.
Additionally, she said the European Union is currently preparing to co-finance most follow-on projects, with the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda being one of the focus areas of the collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission, and its cooperation partners in the next project phase.
She recalled that when the Commandant KAIPTC – Major General Richard Addo Gyane announced the up-scaling of the KAIPTC’s Women, Peace and Security Institute with a Youth component in 2023, GIZ offered to be a partner in rolling out the new youth mandate, and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development supported, availing additional funding.
She furthered that in a time when security situation is deteriorating, and concerns are rising over the possible spill-over of insecurity from the Sahel into coastal states and even into Ghana, it is time to take the youth from the margins, and put them into the centre of peace and security efforts.
The growing, energetic, impatient and visionary youth population of West Africa, is an essential stakeholder for peace and for conflict, for fragility and for resilience, Madam Krafft said.
By anchoring the youth agenda at the heart of the Centre, KAIPTC is laying a strong foundation and is leading by example, by empowering youth, nurturing young people, giving them opportunities to grow, opening up spaces, where the youth can bring in their ideas and priorities, and they can be learnt from, she said.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
