The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre was established 20 years ago with the aim of better preparing primarily African peacekeepers for their role in peacekeeping missions. Since then, 34,000 people have taken courses there. As well as courses on peacekeeping, the centre now offers training on a wide variety of topics such as conflict prevention and peacebuilding, including courses for conflict analysts and election observers. The centre is in the Ghanaian capital Accra and takes its name from former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was from Ghana. The KAIPTC is more than just a training centre; it has become a centre for peace and security in West Africa.
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GIZ/privat
Peacekeeping Training Centre: securing peace is only possible together
In times of growing insecurity, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) remains a central location for peace and security training in West Africa. It brings together military, police and civilian actors and receives significant support from international partnerships. Teresa Krafft and Colonel André Stirnimann provide insights into the work of the KAIPTC, its strategic importance and its future.
Interview: Friederike Bauer
The KAIPTC in Accra has been in existence for 20 years. What is special about it?
Teresa Krafft (TK): The centre is the largest of its kind in West Africa and offers a wide range of courses, both face-to-face and online. These are aimed at military, police and civilian employees of the African Peace and Security Architecture and United Nations. The KAIPTC also runs a research department that specialises in the topics of peace and security. It also regularly opens its doors for exchange formats such as the Kofi Annan Peace and Security Forum. High-ranking individuals from the region meet there every two years to discuss security policy issues. Over the years, the KAIPTC has developed into a security policy hub and an important centre for political exchange in the region; Germany is its most important financial supporter.
Colonel André Stirnimann (AS): In the early 2000s, the member states of the African Union and African regional organisations decided to create an African Peace and Security Architecture. One component of this was to be a training centre for peace missions. At that time, Ghana already had a lot of experience with international peace missions and the aim was to pass on some of this knowledge. The decision was therefore made to set up a centre in Accra with international support. Germany, Switzerland, the Nordic countries and a few others, such as the USA and Canada, were involved.
The KAIPTC is therefore international in several respects: it trains people from all over the world, but is also administered internationally.
AS: The participants do indeed come from all over the world, although the focus is clearly on West Africa and Africa. In this respect, the focus is international; that is correct. The KAIPTC is administered by Ghana, while we as international partners provide support. I am one of six to eight international delegates who work directly at the centre.
TK: My mandate is a little different. I manage a sub-project that aims to support the centre. We have a GIZ office directly on site and work closely with the Ghanaian side to facilitate their work and continue to improve and develop the KAIPTC. However, we ourselves are not directly part of the centre. In this respect, André’s activities and mine complement each other very well. While he works within the system, my work borders on it. We exchange ideas almost every day; the collaboration works extremely well. Our common goal is to move the KAIPTC forward.
Why does the KAIPTC need this international focus? What is the added value?
AS: First of all, it is financially dependent on funds from abroad. At the moment, donors are still covering around nine tenths of the costs. But there are also substantive reasons. We try to play a constructive role, but don’t want to dictate anything. The management is in Ghanaian hands. But the international composition provides valuable impetus and constantly generates new ideas.
46
nations
were represented in training sessions at the centre in 2024.
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GIZ/privat
Can you give us some examples?
TK: eLearning, for example. When we started working on this topic, there were concerns at the centre about whether significant added value would be lost if course participants were only connected ‘online’ instead of coming to Accra. As a result, the ‘blended learning’ model was developed, which usually involves an initial theoretical component online followed by a face-to-face component focused on application at the centre. This system has proven its worth and is now well established. The dialogue and discussions between the international partners played a key role in making this happen. We worked together to advance this topic.
AS: This also opens up the possibility of involving even more interested parties from Europe in the future. Only recently, I suggested in Switzerland that our soldiers, police officers, etc. who are about to be deployed to Africa should also be trained using KAIPTC eLearning. Future peacekeepers could then benefit directly from African training content. An idea like this takes time to evaluate and implement, but this additional form of international cooperation is certainly possible here.
TK: In general, the centre is constantly evolving. While peacekeeping was at the forefront of the centre in the beginning, the range of training offered is now very broad and extends from police training and election observation to courses on violent extremism and the connection between peace, migration and climate. This expansion of the curriculum is certainly due in part to the new global situation and its many challenges, but it also has to do with the international focus, which is constantly pushing and further developing such processes. For me, the KAIPTC is a beacon of what can be achieved when different actors work together productively.
AS: I completely agree with that. There are now not only training courses at the centre itself, but also mobile training teams that go to Senegal, Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia, for example, and offer courses there. The radius of the KAIPTC has expanded; this was only possible due to international cooperation in the region and beyond.
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"The radius of the KAIPTC has expanded; this was only possible due to international cooperation in the region and beyond."
Colonel André Stirnimann
professional soldier in the Swiss Army
About
Teresa Krafft has been managing the KAIPTC support team in Accra for 2.5 years as part of the BMZ project Advising the ECOWAS Commission in the Area of Peace and Security, which is cofinanced by the European Union. Before joining GIZ, she was involved in various United Nations peace missions over the course of many years.
Oberst André Stirnimann is a professional soldier in the Swiss Army and has been working at the Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra for over a year. He is responsible for training evaluation and course development. He is also Switzerland’s highest-ranking military representative in the region.
The region is considered fragile and has recently been affected by numerous coups in neighbouring countries, including Mali and Burkina Faso. Does this development strengthen or weaken the importance of the KAIPTC?
TK: In my opinion, it has definitely become more important. In view of the current challenges in West Africa, it is important to have places where a wide range of actors from different countries and contexts – military and civilian, political and technical, regional, national and local – can come together and exchange ideas. This is the only way to find solutions to the region’s pressing peace and security problems. The KAIPTC is such a place, which is why it is now more valuable than ever.
What happens next? Should the centre remain international or should it eventually pass completely into Ghanaian hands?
TK: I think the centre has everything it needs and is working successfully. In view of the security situation in the region, I think that even more emphasis should be placed on networking with other training centres in Africa and with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in future.
AS: I would like to see the KAIPTC become more financially independent but retain its international character because that is exactly what we need in today’s world.
What is peacekeeping?
Peacekeeping is the deployment of international military personnel, police and civil experts to ensure peace and stability in conflict regions. The United Nations in particular uses it as an important means of securing international peace. The first peacekeepers – or ‘Blue Helmets’ – were deployed to the Middle East in 1949 to supervise the implementation of the Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements. Since then, there have been 71 peacekeeping missions in which more than two million women and men from 125 countries, mostly developing countries and emerging economies, have served. The missions consist of international teams and, depending on the mandate, can cover a wide variety of activities, including civilian tasks. Peacekeeping troops are usually authorised by the UN Security Council.