Fifty-six (56) delegates from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States are participating in the 10-day Training of Trainers course on compliance and accountability in international human rights law organised by the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) from 3 – 14 July 2023. The delegates are drawn from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia.
The African Union Compliance and Accountability Framework (AUCF) Project was launched in 2022 to enhance the AU’s capacity to ensure that Peace Support Operations (PSOs) are planned and conducted in compliance with International Human Rights Law (IHRL), International Humanitarian Law (IHL), regional human rights instruments, and applicable standards of conduct and discipline.
To achieve this objective, it is important to enhance the capacity of the personnel deployed under the AU’s authority to enable them to comply with IHL and IHRL and related protection frameworks and applicable standards of conduct and discipline, before and during deployment to peace support operations.
The Training of Trainers will gain basic knowledge of the AU Curriculum on Compliance and Accountability which will assist them in designing strategies to integrate compliance and accountability topics into the existing curricula of their respective institutions.
Rear Admiral (JG) Gottlieb Pandeni, Commandant of the SADC Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre (RPTC) underscored the importance of the training programme in enhancing capacities of personnel of the Member States of the SADC region, noting that this is in line with the training policy of the African Union Standby Force. He urged participants to tap into the AU and UN expertise to maximise their understanding and knowledge of IHRL and IHL to effectively contribute to successful peacekeeping support operations in the SADC region.
