Monograph 17: African Capabilities for Training for Peace Operations, Mark Malan, William Nhara and Pol Bergevin

The contents of this monograph were originally presented in English and French during February 1997, as a report for the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity. The report was compiled by a project team led by the Institute for Security Studies and funded by the Canadian Government. A limited number of copies were produced, and the copyright vested in the Organisation of African Unity. Wider dissemination of the report has now been authorised by the OAU.

The dramatic increase in the incidence of violent conflict on the African continent over the past months has placed the OAU and its Central Organ under immense pressure, and raised the salience of a report which aims, among others, to recommend ways in which to enhance the presentation and co-ordination of peacekeeping training in Africa.

Recently, the Second Meeting of the Chiefs of Defence Staff of the Central Organ of the Organisation of African Unity, held in Harare from 24 to 25 October 1997, approved no fewer than fifty substantive recommendations on developing African capabilities for peacekeeping for consideration and adoption by the political organs of the OAU. These included the following eleven recommendations on training for peace support operations:

• Training should be conducted according to UN doctrine and standards, and should draw on the training materials, training aids and courses available through the UN system. UN training manuals should be complemented by Africa specificity.
  
  
• Member states should be encouraged to include basic training in the concept and conduct of peace support operations as part of the training curriculum for all troops, individuals, units, and officers in staff colleges, as well as various civilian role players and the police. Such training should include International Humanitarian Law. Member states should be encouraged to use the expertise of international humanitarian organisations and agencies.
  
  
• Centres of expertise for peace support operations training should be established, which are capable of conducting research into training; formulating guidelines for training; producing common training syllabi; and conducting control and evaluation functions.
  
  
• African training for peace support operations should not be held hostage to the availability of foreign donated equipment. Africans should train with what they have available on inventory in their armed forces and adapt their concepts for the conduct of peace support operations accordingly.
  
  
• The OAU should conduct simulation exercises at the organisational level involving the humanitarian, military and political actors – once the Secretariat has been restructured.
  
  
• Joint exercises should be organised under the auspices of the OAU at the subregional level, across the subregions and at the continental level.
  
  
• The OAU should be involved in the planning of all exercises conducted at the subregional level.
  
  
• An African (OAU) peacekeeping identity must be established through, for example, the use of OAU insignia, accoutrements, etc., and the drafting of an OAU code of conduct for African peace keepers. This would emphasise the importance of African unity over national identity.
  
  
• Countries with military academies, war colleges and other military institutions of higher learning should be encouraged by the OAU to establish a chair of peace operations. This would not only develop the intellectual and conceptual capacity to deal with the complexity of modern peace support operations, but would ensure a future supply of senior African officers with a thorough knowledge of the subject.
  
  
• To enhance communication in peace support operations, OAU member states should be encouraged to introduce the teaching of one or other of the official languages of the OAU for officers.
  
  
• All foreign training assistance for peace support operations should be within the parameters and concepts of the UN and OAU and should be of general benefit to the entire region or subregion.
  

Other recommendations of the Chiefs of Defence Staff focused on:

• procedures for the conduct of peace support operations;
  
  
• structures needed for the conduct of peace support operations;
  
  
• command, control and communications;
  
  
• logistical support for peace support operations; and
  
  
• the funding of future peace operations.
  

In short, the Harare meeting reflected many of the findings and recommendations contained in the Report for the Secretary-General. Indeed, some of the recommendations of this report are almost identical to a number of those approved by the Chiefs of Defence Staff. In addition, this report also contains suggestions which may prove useful in the actual implementation of the recommendations made in Harare, once the latter are approved.

The sole aim of this monograph is to provide for the wider dissemination of the original survey support, as presented to the OAU Secretary-General, without any further editing or embellishment. The only improvement in this version is the space provided here to thank the Canadian Government for sponsoring the entire project; the participating countries for the generous hospitality and friendly co-operation provided to the survey team; His Excellency, Salim Ahmed Salim, for allowing the re-publication and public dissemination of the report; and fellow team members William Nhara and Pol Bergevin for their valuable support and continued friendship.

Mark Malan
Halfway House
November 1997