Globalisation and human rights in Africa

The African Conference of Commandants (ACoC) is committed to contributing to African security through the development and transformation of the education and training of the military in support of multidimensional peace support operations (PSOs), and to improving coordination among African Staff Colleges in order to contribute towards promoting cooperation and standardisation among them as a  contribution to the African Standby Force (ASF) and PSOs. ACoC held a three-day conference on ‘Globalisation and human rights in Africa’. This conference took place at the Southern Sun Hotel, Gaborone, Botswana from 28–30 November 2011. Conference goal The goal of the conference was to acknowledge and deliberate on the need for an effective and coherent approach in dealing with peace and security in a globalised world.

Objectives of the conference

The conference aimed to:

■ Deliberate on the importance of having a harmonised training syllabus among all Staff Colleges for the common understanding of military concepts in a globalising world
■ Share experiences and best practice that Staff Colleges should take into consideration and model according to their own unique environments
■ Propose initiatives to enhance ACoC’s effectiveness on the continent

Forty-nine delegates, including facilitators and rapporteurs, attended the conference, and were povided with thought-provoking presentations on the impact of globalisation on human rights in Africa and the role of Staff
Colleges in promoting gender equality in the military, among others.

Delegates acknowledged that notwithstanding financial strain, implementation of the decisions taken at previous conferences was an ongoing process, with substantial progress having been made in terms of the agreed result areas. They also noted that the current vision and mandate of ACoC should not be limited to peacekeeping operations alone, but should also include the overall professional development of a military officer who has all-round skills, is knowledgeable in the dynamics of the continent and the world, and is able to operate with other militaries in a multinational environment.

This conference was a step forward for ACoC in its mission to develop professional officers, and delegates agreed that while it was the role of armed forces to defend countries, it was the role of Command and Staff Colleges to prepare succeeding generations of officers for the military profession, in cognisance of the changing security environment in a globalised world.

Report by Johan Potgieter, Sandra Adong Oder and Irene Ndungu