Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), concluded the four-day workshop on Support Relationships in Armed Conflict and Partnered Military Operations (PMO) on April 21. The event was presided over by RDF Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Jean Bosco Kazura.

The workshop brought together around twenty African and other countries to share their experiences in different theatres of operation and to expand their collective understanding of the humanitarian implications in partnered military operations.

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During the event, Gen Kazura praised the participants for their commitment to cooperate, collaborate, and partner with others to increase their operational capabilities, especially in promoting respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. He also highlighted that no single country can be self-sufficient in achieving the aforementioned objectives.

"I am sure that one of the realities that you have come to acknowledge during your discussions, is that no individual country would be able to be self-sufficient in achieving, on its own, the aforementioned operational and even strategic objectives. It is against that background that all individual nations present here have chosen to team up with others to deliver critically needed results,” he said.

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The Head of ICRC Regional Delegation to Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, Christoph Sutter, who also spoke at the event, affirmed that the support relationships in armed conflict initiatives seek to increase military decision-makers’ understanding of the role they can play in mitigating risks for civilian populations, for the wounded, for detainees when designing and implementing their support.

"Partnering armed forces deployed in military operations abroad have emerged as very relevant actors seeking to provide stability and security in the areas where they intervene. Preserving humanity even when fighting the enemy is at the heart of the law of armed conflicts at the ICRC act,” he noted.

The workshop also provided a platform for expert exchanges between military practitioners, humanitarians, and academic experts on measures that can be taken in designing and implementing Partnered Military Operations to enhance the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.

Also, the workshop attendees included serving or retired military officers (primarily colonel/brigadier general rank), as well as civilian experts and ICRC staff, whose participation was acknowledged with certificates.