2008 Global peace operations launched(Page 47) June 26,2008

Story: Michael Donkor
THE Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has launched the annual review of global peace operations 2008 in , with a commitment to train more peacekeepers to respond to the numerous conflicts in the world.
THE acting Commandant of the centre, Commodore Albert Addison, who launched the review, said with so many conflicts plaguing the world, the demand for peace operations was constantly on the increase.
Commodore Addison said it was for that reason that the KAIPTC had taken the lead to provide training for both civilian and military peacekeepers.
He said every year the centre ran about 20 different courses for military and civilian personnel involved in peace support operations which were intended to develop regional capacity in peacekeeping.
The German Ambassador to Ghana, Dr Marius Haas, said UN peacekeeping operations had reached a record high this year.
He said with $6.8 billion for peacekeeping operations, the budget of the UN peacekeeping missions was as high as ever before.
Dr Haas said in some conflict regions the UN remained the peacekeeper of last resort because it was the only politically viable actor and had the capacity to remain engaged over a long and difficult period of time.
He said since the beginning of 2008, the German government had considerably increased its funding for peacekeeping globally.
He said the Federal Foreign Office of Germany was supporting crisis prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict peace-building measures world-wide to the tune of 60 million Euros.
He said much of the funding would flow into projects in Africa.
Dr Haas said an additional 30 million Euros would be used to improve Africa’s civilian security architecture, to enhance police work in Africa and to combat the causes of border conflicts.
Dr Sarjoh Bah of the Centre on International Co-operation, New York University, said the year in review was a difficult one for the United Nations (UN) and non-UN peace operations, and might bring about more challenges for the year ahead.
He said by the end of 2007, it appeared as it peacekeeping had become the reflex solution to crisis, often in the absence of viable political framework or peace agreements.
He said the year also witnessed more peace operations with ambitious mandates, often in places with no peace agreements.
Dr Bah said the complexity and breadth of peace operations began to expose cracks in the international peacekeeping system.