Ethiopia, Japan to offer training in conflict prevention

Ethiopia, Japan to offer training in conflict prevention

Lieut. Colonel Norihisa Urakami of the Japanese military, who designed the course's curriculum, said the program had been developed in "a role-play format."

World Bulletin/News Desk

The Ethiopian International Peacekeeping Training Center (EIPKTC) and the Japanese government have teamed up to organize a training course in conflict prevention for senior military officers from nine East African countries.

The ten-day course began Monday at the African Union's Addis Ababa headquarters, with the participation of high-ranking army officials from Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

Lieut. Colonel Norihisa Urakami of the Japanese military, who designed the course's curriculum, said the program had been developed in "a role-play format."

"I developed a scenario where a very complex conflict is brewing in competing for resources, for right of water, the use of land. According to that scenario, participants are made to negotiate solutions," Urakami, who also serves as a consultant to EIPKTC, told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.

"That's a very effective way of training," he asserted.

He went on to point out that a Japanese army unit was currently serving as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) within the context of practical peacekeeping support being provided by Japan to Africa.

Asked when Japan began contributing to peacekeeping endeavors in Africa, he said: "It began in 1992 in Mozambique, where Japan dispatched a transportation unit."

For his part, Dawit Assefa, an EIPKTC official who is also a training instructor, told AA that the training was necessary in view of Africa's many conflict situations.

Assefa hailed his country's contributions to peacekeeping efforts around the world, saying Ethiopia ranked fourth globally – and first in Africa – in terms of troop contributions.

This sentiment was echoed at the opening session of the training course by EIPKTC chief Brig. Gen. Habtamu Hesbeto Tilahun.

"The government of Ethiopia has established the EIPKTC to strengthen Ethiopia's contribution to promoting peace and security in the region," Tilahun told trainees.

"Ethiopia is not only among the pioneers, but also remains… one of the major contributors to peacekeeping operations," he said.

Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia Kazuhiro Suzuki also spoke at the opening session, where he expressed his belief that the course would not only improve the capacity of regional peacekeeping operations, but would also bolster the concept of the joint African standby force.

Suzuki also commended Ethiopia's role in establishing peace and security in the world and on the African continent, pointing to the founding of the EIPKTC by Ethiopia in 2010 with the aim of enhancing the regional standby capacity of military, police and civilian peacekeeping experts.

In 2012, Japan began supporting the EIPKTC by providing $790,000 for construction of the center's theater building, developing course curriculum, and assigning a Japanese military official to the EIPKTC.

Source: worldbulletin.net