Part of our Peace and Security team attended the final EUPCST Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Between 22 and 24 November representatives of 23 Consortium partners and their coordinator, Royal Netherlands Marechaussee gathered to discuss past activities, the evaluation process and to officially close the project.

After three years (2019 – 2022) EUPCST project is nearing its end. During these three years Consortium members, comprised of national gendarmeries, police forces, and civilian organisations, trained 768 training participants. Among them 537 or 70 % were male and 231 or 30% were female, 50% had a police background, 25% were gendarmes, and 25% were civilians.

The overall aim of the project was to enable civilian crisis management mission and stabilization actions staff to work in a more efficient, effective, and sustainable manner to achieve their mandates. It facilitated capacity building within different organisations active in the security sector. It also allowed for international knowledge exchange, as members of different organisations trained together, and shared their expertise at international conferences and various workshops.

CEP activities within the EUPCST

As a member Centre for European Perspective conducted various activities while also performing as Chair of the Evaluation Committee. In 2019 we conducted a Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) in Gotenica, Slovenia. A year later Covid-19 hit and all training activities were temporarily rescheduled. In 2021 we returned stronger and conducted three online courses: Training of Trainers, Cultural Heritage Protection Basic Training, and Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming in Peace Operations and Missions training. We also held a meeting of the EUPCST Steering Committee at our premises at Jable Castle. This year, when things returned almost back to normal, we conducted one of the last Consortium activities, another HEAT course.

In the meanwhile, we were also busy preparing evaluation forms, gathering relevant information, and sharing it with relevant stakeholders within the Consortium as well as preparing yearly evaluation reports. The final task remains to draft the final evaluation report.

We are proud we were able to successfully contribute to equipping staff of police forces, gendarmeries, and civilians with the necessary skills for their participation in international crisis management operations of the European Union, the United Nations, the African Union, and other international organisations. We hope all will be able to use this knowledge and expertise to make the world a better place.