There is need to build a strong component of military, police and civilian personnel that can perform efficiently and effectively in protecting civilians during peacekeeping missions, Col Jill Rutaremara, the director of Rwanda Peace Academy, has said.

Rutaremara made the call yesterday while opening a one-week regional course on protection of civilians at Rwanda Peace Academy (RPA) in Musanze District.

A total of 32 military, police and civilian personnel from Uganda, Sudan, Comoros, Kenya, Somalia and Rwanda are undergoing the course.

Rutaremara said despite the various mandates and strategies adopted by the United Nations and African Union to protect civilians, there are still cases of civilians killed, maimed, tortured and sexually abused.

Others, he said, are abducted and forced to join armed groups by both state and non-state actors, which has been a common feature particularly on the African continent.

Although there are measures in place to protect civilians, Rutaremara said, implementation challenges remain as seen in DR Congo, where FDLR militia continue to kill and maim civilians.

He also cited the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that left over a million dead under the purported protection of UN peacekeepers.

"It is against this unfortunate history that the majority of peacekeeping operations currently have protection mandate. There are various protection actors, including peacekeepers who have a big role to play in the protection of civilians,” Rutaremara said.

"To perform their work effectively and efficiently, peacekeepers must be well-equipped and resourced, they should also be ethical, disciplined and committed. Above all, they must be adequately trained to understand the importance of protection of civilians, the range of threats facing the civilians and the specific role that the various components play in protecting them.”

Consequences of failure

Rutaremara stressed the need for peace keepers to be able to distinguish civilians from combatants while understanding the consequences of the failure to protect civilians.

Peacekeeping courses offered by the academy are mainly supported by the Government of Japan and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Over the years, the support has been in establishment of the academy and the funders have extended further financial support through the ongoing project, "Strengthening the capacities of the Rwanda Peace Academy,” which comprise six components expected to improve the academy’s services.

Officials from Japanese government and UNDP have hailed Rwanda’s efforts and the academy, in particular, in contributing to peacekeeping operations, saying it is a responsibility of everyone to protect civilians but especially governments and international organisations.

Stephen Rodiques, the UNDP country director, said Rwanda had made tremendous strides in peace support operations in the world with over 5,000 personnel in different missions.

"This training is organised at a time when significant numbers of civilians are increasingly becoming victims of armed conflicts around the world. Africa has not been spared from either political unrest or terrorist attacks that have severely harmed or killed civilians in countries like Burundi, Chad, Somalia, Nigeria and Mali,” he said.

Rodiques said a lot is taking place in UN peacekeeping to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations.