Humanitarian message strong in peacekeepers' training

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Tanzanian Red Cross Society are currently taking part in a French-sponsored support exercise for African peacekeepers in an effort to impart important humanitarian principles to the participating soldiers. The military exercise, dubbed Exercise Tanzanite, has brought together more than 2,000 troops from 16 African nations, as well as military observers from around the world, in an effort to improve coordination between different African armies and enhance the ability of African governments to cope with political and humanitarian crises. The Red Cross movement, through its participation, hopes to familiarise the military forces with its humanitarian operations to protect and assist the victims of armed conflict. "African troops are increasingly being used in peacekeeping operations in Africa. We think it is absolutely essential that African armies develop training capacities on important aspects of humanitarian law," Florian Westphal, the ICRC's regional public information and media relations officer, told IRIN. "The ICRC hopes that as a result of exercises such as this, humanitarian organisations and armed forces can develop a constructive relationship - realising the need for consultations in the event of armed conflict while respecting their differences in mandate," Vincent Nicod, ICRC's regional delegate for Kenya and Tanzania, said in a statement released on Thursday. As part of the training, the participating troops will be confronted with hypothetical situations in which they will have to develop strategies for managing and resolving a crisis dealing with refugees - a major problem in Africa - and other humanitarian problems. "The idea is that we want them to understand what we do and how we work, because we are bound by the same rules. But we will continue to work along our principles independently," Westphal said. The French programme to reinforce African peacekeeping capabilities, known as RECAMP, includes three elements: training in peacekeeping; political-military seminars and ground exercises (which includes Exercise Tanzanite); and the French provision of materials and equipment for African contingents serving in peacekeeping operations. [For more details, go to: http://www.un.int] The current exercises in Tanzania are the third in a series since 1997 - the first of which took place in 1997 and 1998 in Senegal and the second in Gabon in 1999 and 2000, according to Bruno Harmand, defence attache at the French embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "The training is necessary for peacekeepers, because if you have a humanitarian crisis, or refugee problems, you will always first use people on the ground, which is the military," Harmand told IRIN on Thursday.