Rwanda Peace Academy lauded for proper utilisation of donor support

A TEAM OF EVALUATORS from German Development Cooperation (GIZ) has commended Rwanda Peace Academy on the utilisation of the support received from GIZ.Dr Geoffrey Njeru , the team leader, said yesterday that within a short time since Rwanda Peace Academy started operations, it has contributed a lot to human resource capacity building of police, military and civilian personnel.“We want to look at projects that have been funded by GIZ being offered through the Rwanda Peace Academy; we want to find out achievements so far, how the funding from GIZ has been utilised, in which areas, what successes and constraints, and what can be done to make sure the project succeeds in long term,” said Njeru.GIZ supports Rwanda Peace Academy in its civilian component in peace keeping operations. “RPA is a new centre of excellency and it is only fair that such a new institution is supported. Our recommendation is that the support should continue until it reaches what we call sustainability level, RPA should be able to contribute substantially towards peace support operations within the African Union and African peace architecture,” Njeru said. RPA works through the Eastern African Standby Force Coordination Mechanism (EASFCOM). The GIZ support helps build capacity for civilian component in peace keeping operations to enable RPA to contribute to peace missions like other schools elsewhere.“We want to see RPA contributing towards full operational capacity of EASFCOM which is expected around 2015,” he said.Though he could not disclose how much money has been spent by GIZ in supporting the Academy, Njeru said what was important was what the money is doing, and was optimistic the support could increase.According to Method Ruzindana, the director of training and research at Rwanda Peace Academy, though GIZ supports RPA indirectly through EASFCOM it is commendable and officials have urged the organisation to support the Academy directly.He said that GIZ supported them in the peace support operation foundation course and political affairs course for civilians. Over 700 people including military, police and civilians were awarded certificates from Rwanda Peace Academy since 2010 when it officially started.

National

Rwanda Peace Academy lauded for proper utilisation of donor support