Training in child rights for military trainers

Military trainers from member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are to participate in a workshop in Cote d’Ivoire on the rights and protection of children in conflict. Each country is to send two trainers to the workshop, which is a joint initiative of ECOWAS and Save the Children Sweden and which will be held on 12-24 June at the Peacekeeping School at Zambakro in the centre of Cote d’Ivoire. Participants will learn to train soldiers, whether deployed internally or as peacekeepers, on children’s rights and protection during conflicts, Save the Children reported in a news release. They will be joined on the last two days by a dozen war-affected children from the region who will share their experiences with them. ECOWAS comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Mauritania notified the regional organisation some months ago that it intended to withdraw from it, a process that takes a year.