19 Jul Daillaire Institute ACOE Working Visit To APSTA
The African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA), received a delegation from the Daillaire Institute on Friday 19th July 2024 at the Secretariat in Yaoundé-Cameroon. The delegation was led by Major General (Rtd) Ferdinand Safari, Director of the African Centre of Excellence (ACOE) Kigali, Rwanda of the Daillaire Institute for Children Peace and Security, Canada. Included in their team were Mr. Anthony Di Carlo-Director of strategic relations, Ms. Madeline Zutt-Policy and advocacy manager and Ms. Divine Isimbi- Communications and executive assistant. Also in attendance were Mr. Achaleke Christian Leke (Executive Director of LOYOC: Local Youth Corner) and ATEFOR JUDE FIANKOH (National Programmes Manager at LOYOC), a team that joined Daillaire to familiarise themselves with APSTA operations. The Executive secretary of APSTA, Dr. Cecile Oyono Thom together with staff of the secretariat, welcomed and received the Daillaire team. The meeting was held in the Situation Room (SR) of APSTA. In her welcome remarks, she was pleased with the visit and charged the team to explore strategic avenues for collaborations and partnerships. She said the timing was apt as we seek strategic ways to community engagement and Coorporate social responsibilities. The meeting touched on various areas of partnerships through projects and creating lasting efforts to address issues of peace support operations through joint efforts from international organizations and support mechanisms. Major General (Rtd). Ferdinand Safari, team lead for Daillaire Institute was pleased with the work of APSTA especially on leading the way on the African Continent in areas of IAPTC representations, training, institutional enhancement and capacity building alongside dialogue and research. He applauded the Secretariat for the many partnerships and joint initiatives in the past and hopes to explore future avenues for more collaborations. The deputy Executive Secretary/Programmes Coordinator of APSTA, Mr. Christian C. M. Ichite, took the team through a comprehensive APSTA brief touching on programmes, projects, initiatives and future collaborations and highlighted the achievements and milestones of APSTA from 2020 to date. He also explained the scope of work, governance structure, team efforts and mandates towards PSO as a secretariat. A project presentation by Mr. Ibrahim Aoudi Mouko dubbed : “Empowerment of street youth for development, peace and security” was delivered. The presentation touched on the project scope and concept, mechanism, justification, funding and monitoring strategy for implementation and sustenance. The conversation on the project further explored strategic ways to set into motion the agenda on community engagement, local and international support and corporate social responsibilities through partnership. The meeting ended on a very high note, with possible partnership and signing of MOU between APSTA and Daillaire Institute on the proposed project. A call for other strategic international organizations was also made to facilitate and expand the impact.
Compiled by : Alexander Odartey Lamptey (ICT/KM-Officer) & Ibrahim Aoudi Mouko (DO/PA to ES)