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UNAMID pre-deployment course ends
Accra, July 18, Ghanadot/GNA - Some 65 police officers
scheduled to be deployed to the United Nations-African Union
Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on Friday completed a two-week
pre-deployment training course at the Kofi Annan
International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in
Accra.
The training, organised by the KAIPTC and sponsored by the
German government, was aimed at better preparing the
officers, who are drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, El Salvador and
Bangladesh to meet the challenges in the mission area.
Only two weeks ago, Darfuri rebels ambushed a UNAMID convoy,
resulting in the death of seven peacekeepers including a
Ghanaian, with over 20 others sustaining several degrees of
injury, seven being critical.
Mr Patrick Acheampong, Inspector-General of Police, who
extolled Ghana’s commitment to world peace, asked the
officers to make good use of the training they had acquired
in order to become better peacekeepers in the quest for
world peace.
He noted that successful peacekeeping was always dependent
on great teamwork and spirit, exemplary discipline by
contingents and utmost respect and recognition for the laws,
cultures and customs of the host nation.
He tasked the trainees to quickly study the norms of that
particular area to bring honour and recognition to their
respective countries.
Ghana has about 467 Ghanaian police officers serving in
Sudan, including 70 women.
Mr John-Erik Jensen, a representative of the UN’s Department
of Peacekeeping Operations, said the UN was more resolved to
ensure that it brought relief to the population of Darfur
and would strengthen its efforts at preparing personnel
before their deployment, because incidents such as the one
of July 8, 2008 where several peacekeepers lost their lives
were anticipated to continue.
UNAMID is the first-ever hybrid mission between the United
Nations and the African Union. Troops are predominantly
African, with contributions from other countries when
African nations are unable to meet the force’s requirements.
At full strength, UMANID would be the largest mission ever
deployed by the UN and would cost an estimated 2.6 billion
dollars per year.
GNA
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