APSTA signs MOU with ENTRI

On Monday, 10th October 2011, The African Peace Support Trainers’ Association (APSTA) formalized its relationship with Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilian Crisis Management (ENTRi) by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Cairo, Egypt.

Within the MoU, APSTA and ENTRi will undertake to work together to train and facilitate  capacity building workshops in peace support operations and conflict resolution related issues at either party’s headquarters, as well as do the following:

• Exchange of information, best practice and research for the enhancement for the equality and efficiency of peacekeeping institutions.
• Hold joint training courses, conferences and workshops to share with UN agencies concerned primarily with civilian crisis management

African Peace Support Trainers’ Association (APSTA)

The African Peace Support Trainers’ Association (APSTA) was started in 2002 by leading African training and research institutions as a framework for improving the capacity of peace-keeping training institutions by  facilitating the exchange of best practices and capacity development support, and for enhancing the impact of peacekeeping initiatives by the African Union (AU) and regional economic communities / regional mechanisms (RECs/RM). Through dialogue and joint research APSTA has continuously sought to deepen the debate on peacekeeping capacity development in Africa, such as the protection of civilians and the responsibility to protect.

APSTSA exists to facilitate the development of African capacity for peace and security through coordination, advocacy, harmonisation and standardisation of training among its member institutions in order to:

• Facilitate the ability of peace support training centres to dialogue with each other;
• Facilitate meetings and exchange information among members in training;
• Facilitate efforts to harmonise doctrine, Standard Operating Procedures and training programmes for peace support operations;
• Serve as a depository that offers advisory services to the African Union (the Commission, Peace and Security Council) on peace support operations issues;
• Serve as an instrument for the dissemination of research and professional training in Africa;

Europe's New Training Initiative for Civilian Crisis Management (ENTRi)

Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilian Crisis Management (ENTRi) is a unique capacity-building programme that was initiated in early 2011. The main focus lies on the preparation and training of civilians that are either going to, or already working in, crisis management missions worldwide. Such missions include those of the European Union (EU), United Nations (UN), Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the African Union (AU).

ENTRi is a 2.5 million Euro initiative funded by the European Commission (80%) and co-funded by its 13 implementing partners (led by the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) in Berlin). Each implementing partner is from a different Member State of the European Union. ENTRi was created by the European Union’s Instrument for Stability and is guided by The Foreign Policy Instruments Service, a service of the European Commission co-located with the European External Action Service.

For more information about the APSTA – visit http://www.apsta-africa.org

For further information about ENTRi – visit http://www.entriforccm.eu/

Please download a pdf copy of Memorandum Of Understanding here