The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), in collaboration with the governments of Norway and Germany (implemented by GIZ), has launched the third edition of Kofi Annan Peace and Security (KAPS) Forum 2024.
The two-day event, which is scheduled to take place at the centre in Accra-Ghana on February 27 and 28 is on the theme: “Migration and Societal Resilience in a Multipolar World Order: Addressing Conflicts and Building Peace in Africa”.
The forum is aimed at providing a platform for delegates and participants to address migration-related conflicts through effective policies and peacebuilding mechanisms in the region.
Speaking at the Media launch in Accra on February 15, 2024 the Commandant of KAIPTC, Major General Richard Addo Gyane, said since its inception in 2019 to honour the memory of the late Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, the forum had made gains on the continent in the area of promoting peace and stability.
Major Gen. Gyane said the 2024 KAPS forum is focusing on developing a-five-year strategic plan to ensure a continuous lead as international center for training, education, research and policy advocacy in the area of peace and stability on the continent.
He added that the forum would also strengthen collaboration with key actors, such as the UN, AU, ECOWAS, governments, institutions and civil society groups to expand the Women, Peace and Security Institute to focus more on the youth, develop more academic and research programmes and build capacity of key stakeholders, policy markers and practitioners.
“KAPS 2024 is set to ignite critical discussions from highly-profiled African heads of states, leaders and development partners on the impacts of migration and its relation to addressing conflicts in Africa,” Maj. Gen. Gyane stated.
Touching on the relevance of the forum, he said KAPS 2024 would look at modalities in ensuring the issues of armed conflicts, climate change, corruption, unemployment, weak governance, human right abuses and many others can be addressed to ease the pressure on migration.
He said the Centre was expecting over 200 high-level delegates and specialists from various fields to try to profess solutions to migration’s impact on security and collaborate to prevent instability.
The Deputy Head of Missions at the German Embassy in Accra, H.E. Ms Sivine Jansen said the German government hadfor the past 10 yearsworked with KAIPTC and spent $2M on KAPS fora to ensure peace and security in the country.
On the issue of migration, Ms. Sivine Jansen said her government realised its impacts, hence the readiness to partner KAIPTC and the Kofi Annan Foundations to address the canker.
She added that over 2.3 million of the world’s population today are been affected by migration, a situation she said needed urgent attentions hence the government of Germany’s willingness to foster collaboration to resolve the issue.
On her part, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Ms. Corinne Momal-Vanian, expressed her readiness to be part of this year’s KAPS 2024 forum.
