Trained local expertise key to conflict resolution(Page 31) March 6, 2008

Story: Michael Donkor
THE Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Major-General John Attipoe, has called on African leaders to contribute to the concept of training local expertise to handle conflicts on the continent.
He noted that the problems of the continent could best be resolved by Africans rather than resorting to the West for assistance.
Major-General Attipoe made the call at the opening session of a training course in peacekeeping operations at the KAIPTC in Accra yesterday.
Known as the Negotiation Course, it was organised jointly by the KAIPTC and the Canadian government to build the capacity of the participants in how to use negotiation and dialogue to resolve conflict.
The participants drawn from all the African countries were made up of military, police and civilians.
Major-General Attipoe said without peace and stability, the continent would be unable to attain economic and social progress and commended the efforts being done by the regional institutions to work together and make peace and stability a common concern.
The Counsellor of the Canadian High Commission in Ghana, Madam Maria Lavelle, said negotiation skills were essential if one was to be effective in today’s complex peace operations.
She said the traditional peacekeeping with armoured military personnel standing between two state parties in conflict who had agreed to a ceasefire had changed.
She said many conflicts in recent times happened between two or more groups in the same state hence the need for a broader set of skills to bring a lasting peace.
Madam Lavelle said regardless of the type of peace operation one was engaged in, one would find himself entering into negotiations on a daily basis.
She said it was in this regard that the Canadian government saw the need to support the course.