30/3/2007
Inauguration of Bamako Peacekeeping School

The Peacekeeping School at Bamako was inaugurated this week in the presence of the president of Mali and officials from Mali, Germany, Canada, Denmark, the US, the Netherlands, Britain and Switzerland.  

Initially founded in 1999 in Cote d’Ivoire and located in Koulikoro (Mali) since 2002, the Peacekeeping School is a Malian establishment serving the region, devoted to providing training in peace support operations in Africa to military officers who come chiefly from the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Peacekeeping School in Bamako, established at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the department for military cooperation and defence (DCMD), is a key element in an effective policy to strengthen African peace-building capacities, in support of the RECAMP concept since 1997, for its training component.  The school is recognized as being a centre of excellence in ECOWAS and the African Union.

The Bamako project is entirely consistent with the mechanisms being set up at the sub regional level (ECOWAS) and continent-wide level (AU).  A unique peacekeeping training course in West Africa has been set up in liaison with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC, Accra, Ghana), and the War College in Abuja (Nigeria).

Given that the Koulikoro location was not suitable for the expanded Peacekeeping School, it was decided to move it to Bamako in April 2004. The first stone was laid in November 2005.  The first courses, which will begin in April 2007, will train 60 participants at a time.  Between 1999 and the end of 2006, a total of 1,633 officers from 40 African countries received training in peacekeeping operations (603 of them trained at Zambakro).  Since being relocated to Koulikoro in June 2003, 1,030 officer trainees took 51 courses in Mali (training as military observers, DDR, RECAMP, civilian-military actions, basic knowledge for subalterns on peace support operations, etc.).

The total cost (ground, infrastructure, equipment and personnel) of building the Peacekeeping School in Bamako is estimated at 8 million euros.   It is the result of cooperation between Mali, France, Germany, Canada, Denmark, the US, the Netherlands, Britain and Switzerland, which also extends to training.  Argentina and Brazil may join in the last-named aspect shortly.