03 May 2006: Statement: Launch of the New APSTA Website

Statement on the Launch of the APSTA Website
Pretoria, 3 May 2006

The African Peace Support Trainers association, APSTA, today, is launching its new website - http://www.apsta-africa.org. The Association was established in Pretoria, South Africa, in October 2002, as the African Chapter of the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres (IAPTC).

Among other objectives, the initiative of the Association is to provide a forum in which representatives from its members could discuss issues pertaining to their work—peace support training, explore areas of cooperation, and develop strategies on how to contribute to the capacity-building needs of the African Union and its sub-regional organisations. Since its inception in 2002, the APSTA has been exploring avenues for sharpening the discourse on peacekeeping training within the continent, as well as supporting the work of the African Union in building its peace support capacities.

The new website will feature information on these issues and activities: training courses, seminars, workshops, news, research and publications.

The Association is currently composed of African and other regional peacekeeping training institutions and organisations involved in peacekeeping capacity-building within Africa.

The APSTA is currently in the process of establishing the post of an Honorary Patron. Subsequently, as part of its activities, it is planning a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in August/September 2006, to present the Association to the African Union.

For more information, contact: Major General John K. Attipoe (President), Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (+233 244 201 491) and Festus B. Aboagye (Secretary), Institute for Security Studies (+ 27 82 903 1509).

Issued by the Institute for Security Studies on behalf of the African Peace Support Trainers Association

Pretoria

3 May 2006