Police Peace Operations course ends

Accra, July 30, GNA - The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, on Friday urged participants of a Civil Police Peace Operations course to use the knowledge they have acquired to build bridges of peace in their societies.

"Having been made aware of the potential indicators and causes of conflicts and how to handle them from the civil police perspective, you must now see yourselves as eminently qualified to be deployed in conflict areas."

Mr Ala Adjetey was speaking at the end of a two-week Civil Police in Peace Operations course for 29 participants from 17 African countries supported by the government of Canada and the Pearson Peace-Keeping Centre at the Kofi Annan International Peace-Keeping Centre (KAIPKTC) in Accra.

He said the proliferation of armed conflicts and violence in North, Central and West Africa have devastated the societies of the countries concerned especially their economies, which are largely donor dependent.

He said one cannot lose sight of the violent conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone and to some extent Cote D'Ivoire and said the course could not have come at a better time.

The Speaker urged the participants to be ready to face the challenges in any conflict area whenever they were called upon to do so. Brigadier General Charles Mankatah, Commandant of the KAIPKTC, noted that the course reinforced the vision of providing training for peace building on the continent.

He called for closer Police collaboration to strengthen their capacities to deal with crises be it internal or peace keeping missions abroad.