The increasing political instability and security challenges in the ECOWAS region have necessitated the deployment of ECOWAS Peace Support Operations (PSOs) mandated by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. In this context, ECOWAS is organizing in-mission training for staff officers deployed to the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) from July 8 to 12, 2024, in Banjul.
This training aims to strengthen the capacities of newly rotated personnel in understanding their operational framework. It is envisaged that the training will help personnel implement appropriate operational procedures according to their respective roles in the mission. Participants include staff officers from Mission Headquarters, Contingent Commanders from Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, as well as personnel from Gambian Defence and Security Agencies.
The Commandant of KAIPTC acknowledged ECOWAS's contributions towards sustaining peace and security within West Africa. He thanked the GIZ-EPSAO project, co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), for their contributions to developing the Staff Officers Handbook. He noted that pilot training conducted in 2023 in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau was successful, leading to this second iteration for newly rotated ECOMIG personnel.
Mr. Raphael Brigandi, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in The Gambia, stated that the EU remains committed to supporting ECOWAS efforts to improve readiness among its civilian, police, and military personnel earmarked for deployment. Over 300 personnel have been trained through the EPSAO Project. He expressed gratitude to ECOWAS, KAIPTC, and GIZ EPSAO for their collaboration in developing this course handbook and organizing the training.
Her Excellency Mrs. Miatta Lily French, Resident Representative of ECOWAS in The Gambia represented by Mr. Claude Kondor declared the training open. She emphasized that "Without peace and security, development and economic integration of the entire region will be very difficult to achieve."
Mr. Kondor revealed that various protocols have been adopted to address numerous security challenges transforming the ECOWAS region into an epicenter of conflict. These include mechanisms such as the 1999 Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security; The Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance of 2001; The 2008 ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework; among others. He added that implementing an Accountability and Compliance Framework has been included in the training curriculum intended to guide ECOWAS personnel on missions.
The multidimensional PSO structure entails setting up Mission Headquarters as well as Sector Headquarters when necessary. These structures are manned by personnel from Military, Police, Civilian sectors along with Mission Support Components. This curriculum is currently being used at this second edition of In-Mission Training for Staff Officers deployed to ECOMIG.
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