Effective cooperation and coordination between the military and civilians in peace support operations is more crucial now than ever, the Army Chief of Staff has said.

Maj. Gen Frank Mushyo Kamanzi was on Monday speaking at the opening of a two-week course of Civil-Military Cooperation at the Rwanda Peace Academy in Musanze District.

The course aims at improving the civil-military coordination capacity of Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) member states in peacekeeping operations and enhancing the capacity of Rwanda Peace Academy to provide civil-military cooperation training, according to Col Jill Rutaremara, the academy’s director.

It brings together 25 participants, including military, police and civilian officers from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Comoros, Sudan and Kenya.

Rutaremara also said the course is a result of collaborative efforts between Rwanda Peace Academy and the Government of the United Kingdom, represented by the British Peace Support Team, Eastern Africa, the first bilateral partnership between the two institutions.

Maj. Gen. Kamanzi said there is need for both military and civilians to work together in peacekeeping efforts since the number and nature of conflicts as well as the concept of security have changed considerably since the end of the Cold War.

"Not only has the number of conflicts increased but they have also become more complex. While external military threat was the major concern during the Cold War, there is an increasing concern about non–military threats such as massive human rights abuse and poverty that result from internal conflicts and fragility of the state,” he said.

He added that the new operational environment and the paradigm shift towards the broader concept of security have resulted into significant changes in peacekeeping missions.

He said the number and composition of peacekeepers and various civilian bodies as well as the tasks they are required to perform have greatly changed.

"There are more individual civilians and civilian bodies interacting with the military in Peace Support Operations (PSO) theatres. These civilian entities deal with various challenges such as refugee issues, provision of humanitarian assistance, and promotion of human rights, tasks that are non–military in nature,” he said.

He stressed that conflict between the military and civilians should be avoided because the work of the military and the civilians is complementary and contributes to the overall success of the mission.

‘‘The course is significant as the relations between the military and civilians can be built and enhanced through joint training.

‘‘The relations can also be enhanced through exercises that involve the military, police and civilians,’’ he further noted.

He told participants that the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) has been implementing measures to ensure civil-military cooperation.

The British High Commissioner to Rwanda, William Gelling, hailed Rwanda’s effort towards promoting civil-military cooperation, and pledged continuous support to further the cooperation.

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