Participants at a two-week course on Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) at Rwanda Peace Academy, Musanze District have pledged to play their part in ensuring regional and continental peace.

According to Col. Jill Rutaremara, the academy’s director, the course aimed at improving the civil-military coordination capacity of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) in peacekeeping operations.

The course, attended by 25 participants from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Comoros, Sudan and Kenya, closed last week.

Maj. Renee Mwesigwa, of Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), said the course was of great significance as it prepared to work with various actors in peacekeeping missions.

"These days we deal with civilians, police and military, and all participated in the training. Civil military cooperation is basically how the military and police interface with the civil population where we work,” she said.

"The course has been beneficial because we also learnt about the diverse development projects that we can do within the community. We have a clear understanding of how we are supposed to operate with other actors, the course prepared us practically and it was very realistic,” Maj. Mwesigwa added.

Another participant, Jean Claude Ngaboyisibo, from the justice sector, said the course enabled them understand how laws are applied in a peacekeeping mission or during insecurity situations where international humanitarian laws are used.

"I have acquired practical skills, especially in laws applied in peacekeeping and how various actors should work together to ensure peace and security,” he said.

The course is a collaborative effort between Rwanda Peace Academy and the British Peace Support Team, Eastern Africa, the first bilateral partnership between the two institutions.

Col. Richard Leakey, the commander of the British Team, hailed the Rwandan government for its continued support of peacekeeping missions on the continent and beyond and reiterated further support to Rwanda Peace Academy to ensure more peacekeepers are trained.

"You have had a number of experts assist you with current doctrine and tools to help you understand the contemporary operating environment, and thus plan and advise your chain of command accordingly,” he said

"You will now understand the growing complexity of integral missions and how, as CIMIC officers, you are instrumental in promoting a coordinated approach across differing viewpoints and activities of the various stakeholders”.

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