Kofi Ampeah Woode
Selected Officers of the Ghana Armed Forces – particularly female officers – who have been selected to be deployed as Staff Officers and Military Observers (MILOBS) have undergone 3 weeks of intensive training under the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) Military Observers course, and crowned it with a Field Training Exercise (FTE) at Ghana’s Battle Training Camp (BTC), Bundase.
The three weeks intensive training which commenced on Monday 5 June 2023 at the KAIPTC, Teshie Ridge, Accra, drew attention to military observers’ who are said to be the eyes and ears of United Nations (UN) missions as a result of their ground-level reporting, observation and expertise which helps to preserve the integrity of each UN mandate.
Speaking as Guest of Honour at the closing ceremony, the Deputy Commandant, KAIPTC – Air Commodore (A/Cdre) George Arko-Dadzie said, the peacekeeping environment is becoming increasingly complex with security situation fluid and unpredictable as is being experienced in Mali, with MINUSMA.
He said this type of operating environment will task UN Military Observers (UNMOs) ingenuity, endurance, character and professional competence in several ways, and thus urged them to keep abreast with recent happenings in the peacekeeping environment, by constantly updating the knowledge they had acquired, when they are deployed as MILOBs or Staff Officers to UN, African Union (AU) or Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mandated missions.
He further stated that during the 3 weeks course, the participants had opportunity to exchange knowledge, experiences, views and best practices among themselves and with their facilitators, through group discussions, presentations and role-play exercises, which culminated in the final field exercise at Bundase.
The MILOBS course, which was supported by the Global Affairs Canada, covered wide areas such as; United Nations military observers’ concept of support, command and control structure, legal framework for peacekeeping operations including negotiation and mediation, media relations and practical lessons on communications and driving amongst others.
The participants were comprised of 21 Female and 6 Male Officers – (Ghana Army 15, Ghana Navy 6, Ghana Air Force 6), from the Ghana Armed Forces.
Present at the closing ceremony were Brigadier Generel Winfred Dzandu- Hedidor – Director General, International Peace Support Operations, Senior Liaison Officer for the Elsie Initiative in Ghana, Global Affairs Canada – Ms Pearl Wierenga, Director Training, KAIPTC – Colonel (Col)Anorph Barnabas Akanbong, Course Director – Col Abdullateef Idris and Facilitators.
