The Rwanda Peace Academy (RPA) was yesterday (31st May) officially accepted as a full member of the Association for Security Sector Reform Education and Training (ASSET) during the Association’s 5th Annual General Meeting (29th – 31st May 2013) co-hosted by the Kofi Anan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and the African Security Sector Network (ASSN), both based in Accra, Ghana.
To qualify for ASSET membership, an organization or institution must have a proven track record in Security Sector Reform (SSR) training and/or education, or a willingness to develop such a curriculum and/or undertake research activities that are directly linked to developing training and/or education curricula.
The organization or institution must also agree to utilize a shared set of SSR principles and methods.
An institution willing to join the Association must be nominated by at least two members of the Association and circulated to the members of the ASSET Coordinating Committee at least three months before the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
In line with the Cooperation Statement of ASSET, the RPA was nominated by two members; the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the Cranfield University at Shrivenham, United Kingdom.
Once accepted in principle by the Coordinating Committee, the potential applicant is invited to attend the AGM and to present their organization before being formally accepted into ASSET by the AGM, a requirement that the RPA also fulfilled.
ASSET brings together institutions engaged in SSR education and training .
The Association supports the development and delivery of education and training courses and teaching materials in order to meet the increasing need for highly qualified SSR practitioners, planners, trainers and policy makers.
The 5th AGM adopted the minutes of 2012; considered the applications for membership; reviewed the activities for 2012; shared SSR training tools and related resources; discussed the implementation of SSR policies through capacity building; and defined the key priorities and ASSET Programme of Work for 2013/2014.
The meeting that was attended by forty-four delegates from various organizations and institutions in Africa, Europe, Americas and Asia also admitted the African Union (AU) as an Observer to ASSET.
The 5th AGM was officially opened by Honourable Ebenezer Okletey Teilarbi, Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Defence and Member of Parliament for Lower Manya Krobo Constituency.
The next AGM will be hosted by the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) based in Colombo, Sri Lanka in May/June 2014.
The Rwanda Peace Academy was represented at the meeting by its Director, Colonel Jill Rutaremara.
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