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Peacekeeper training centre reopens

[South Africa] South African soldiers IRIN
The South African National Defence Force has been stretched by peacekeeping commitments
    JOHANNESBURG

    The reopening of a regional training centre in Zimbabwe means Southern African countries will soon be able to contribute troops to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions.

    Zimbabwe officially handed over the administration of the centre to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) at the weekend, placing it under the Directorate of Politics, Defence and Security.

    The centre closed in early 2001 when the European Union withdrew its support in protest against ongoing political upheavals in Zimbabwe, the host country.

    SADC deputy executive secretary Albert Machunga and regional defence and foreign affairs representatives attended the handover at the Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre, located just outside the capital, Harare.

    "We have handed over the centre in terms of the resolution adopted by the SADC Council of Ministers in February this year. The region will now take over the running of the institution and Zimbabwe is grateful to have been host and administrator of such an important institution," Zimbabwe's defence minister, Sydney Sekeramayi, told IRIN.

    Sekeramayi noted that troop contributions to AU operations in recent years had been made at individual country level, and added that the centre would help the region maintain a force funded directly by the SADC.

    In an apparent reference to the withdrawal of EU support, South Africa's defence minister Mosuioa Lekota urged member states to refuse any aid that came with conditions attached.

    Until its closure, military officers from various SADC states had attended peacekeeping and 'stabilisation' courses in preparation for UN missions. The reopening of the centre comes in the wake of announcements that a regional standby intervention force would be available by the end of August.

    Armies from the region met in northern Botswana last month for a two-week exercise to test their readiness for rapid response situations.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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