12. 3. 2021 | EUCTI, PR
The official kick-off meeting of the EU Civilian Training initiative (EUCTI) project virtually took place on 11 March 2021. The meeting welcomed eight project partners as well as representatives of EU structures, OSCE African Union, UN and EU CSDP missions. The meeting provided a platform for intense knowledge exchange through past and present experiences in the field of civilian crisis management and cooperation strategies that will provide guidance for the project.
The EUCTI project, co-funded by the European Commission through under Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI.2), Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace, Conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and crisis preparedness component. The overall budget of the project is 2,5 million EUR. The EUCTI project consortium consists of eight partners: Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR), Clingendael – the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Crisis Management Centre Finland (CMC), EGMONT – The Royal Institute for International Relations from Belgium, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA) from Italy, Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) from Germany, Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) from Sweden and CEP from Slovenia as its coordinator. All consortium partners participated previously in the Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilians Crisis Management (ENTRi) activities and the EUCTI will draw on this experience.
The kick-off meeting was opened by the welcome speech of Markko Kallonen, Head of the EUCTI Secretariat, Katja Geršak, Executive Director of Centre for European Perspective, Matej Marn, Head of the Department for Security Policy at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Marc Fiedrich, Head of Unit, Service for Foreign Policy Instruments at European Commission. They emphasized the importance of training and capacity building for effective CSDP missions. The project can build on ENTRI legacy, harmonize the actions and ensure close collaboration among all stakeholders.
After presentations of project partners: Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR), Clingendael – the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Crisis Management Centre Finland (CMC), EGMONT – The Royal Institute for International Relations from Belgium, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA) from Italy, Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) from Germany, Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) from Sweden and Centre for European Perspective (CEP), the meeting touched upon how the initiative fits into larger EU CCM (training) framework and on TRAs and their importance in training design and for EUCTI. EU CSDP Training Missions, OSCE, African Union, and UN representatives contributed to the meeting with their valuable insights about the current training needs, the impact of COVID-19, and the training delivery.
Over the next three years, 30 training activities, developed and designed specifically for the mission that will voice a training need, and implemented in the mission or in the region. Several other project activities, related to the development of new pedagogical approaches to the training, evaluation, and standardization, as well as support for 3rd country training institutions, will also be accomplished.
5. 3. 2021 | EUCTI, PR
Centre for European Perspective has been active in the field of civilian crisis management since its establishment. In 2008 it was proud to be nominated as the Slovene member of the European Group on Training (EGT) that in a couple of years evolved into a Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilian Crisis Management (ENTRi) project. 13 partners from the EU have, in a period of nine years, implemented numerous training activities, developed sophisticated certification system and contributed to the harmonization and standardization of training that professionals are receiving before their deployment to the field. CEP took over different training activities, from generic such as pre-deployment or train the trainers training, to the specialized courses, such as hostile environment awareness training (HEAT), mentoring in CCM and gender equality and gender mainstreaming course. On top of that, several e-learning and off-the-shelf training packages were delivered. With great honour, CEP was appointed as a coordinator of the new training project that will build on the above mentioned ENTRi legacy – European Union Civilian Training Activities.
EU Civilian Training Initiative (EUCTI) is an EU-financed project that commenced with its activities in January 2021 and is planned to last for three years. Its main objective is to contribute to an enhanced position of the EU as a peace actor through better-prepared professionals that are supporting the EU CSDP missions in achieving its mandates. This will be reached through almost 30 training activities, developed and designed specifically for the mission that will voice a training need, and implemented in the mission or the region. Several other project activities are foreseen, mainly related to the evaluation, development of new pedagogical approaches to the training as well as support for third-country training institutions.
The EUCTI project consortium consists of eight partners: Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR), Clingendael – the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Crisis Management Centre Finland (CMC), EGMONT – The Royal Institute for International Relations from Belgium, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA) from Italy, Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) from Germany, Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) from Sweden and CEP from Slovenia as its coordinator. All consortium partners participated previously in Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilians Crisis Management (ENTRi) activities and the EUCTI will draw on this experience.
As organizing demand-driven training activity in current times is not the easiest task, a virtual kick-off meeting will be held on Thursday, March 11, 2021. It aims to bring together all key stakeholders that will support, shape and streamline the EUCTI activities. On one hand, it will give the floor to the European Union institutions (the European Commission and European External Action Service) that will explain how they see the EUCTI activities fit in the bigger picture of the Common Security and Defence Policy. On the other hand, project partners will be invited to present their experiences and adaptation to the COVID-19 reality that affected greatly the training actions. Last, but not least, EU CSDP missions, the project’s most direct beneficiaries, and other international actors present on the ground (the UN, OSCE and African Union), will get the floor to share their training needs, practical insights from their side of the world.
Further information about the project can be found here, you can follow EUCTI on Facebook & Twitter or on the new EUCTI web site – coming soon so stay tuned!
22. 1. 2021 | EUCTI, PR, Security
The activities of the new EU funded project coordinated by CEP have begun at the beginning of the year. The Secretariat of the project, the European Union’s Civilian Training Initiative (EUCTI), is located at CEP.
The overall objective of the EUCTI is to improve the EU position as a peace actor.
EUCTI aims to improve the life of people living in the conflict-affected societies by enhancing the quality of training provided to individuals joining the crisis management missions – either civilian crisis management missions or missions consisting of civilian, police and military elements (integrated missions).
CEP has been active in the field of civilian crisis management for a decade. During this time, a large part of the related activities was implemented through an EU funded Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilian Crisis Management (ENTRi).
As a part of ENTRi, CEP delivered a variety of training activities including Training of Trainers, Monitoring, Mentoring and Advising, Pre-deployment Training for various missions, Hostile Environment Awareness as well as mission administration and support-training. Moreover, CEP lead and contributed to several working groups developing standards on evaluation, online learning tools and packages of training materials that were made accessible for everyone interested. Furthermore, CEP was active in several other projects related to the civilian crisis management such as Improving the Effectiveness of Capabilities in EU Conflict Prevention (IECEU) and Law Enforcement Training for Capacity Building (LET4CAP) just to name few. Based on its experience and engagement, CEP was recognized by its international counterparts as capable and suitable for hosting the secretariat with four people for the new multi-annual EUCTI project.
EUCTI consortium consists of eight renowned training institutions with sound knowledge and expertise in designing and delivering civilian crisis management training. Apart from Slovenia, the other consortium members are located in the following EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.
In practical terms, EUCTI will organize tailor-made training activities for individuals working in the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) -and other international missions, support third countries in their endeavours to develop efficient training materials and activities, design new course curriculums based on the needs of the missions, work on standardization of the training activities offered and develop new methodologies that will maximize the outcomes of the learning processes.
Further information about the project can be found here and more will be made available soon on new EUCTI web site – stay tuned!
11. 12. 2020 | POTC, PR, Security
Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a major global crisis. Consequently, it has led to a number of restrictive measures in an effort to tackle the virus and accordingly, it affected international missions and operations worldwide.
This brought about a number of unprecedented challenges in the field of military mobility.
The Military Mobility Workshop, which took place in a virtual manner on 10th of December 2020, was kicked off by a welcome address and introductory remarks by Mr Valter Vrečar, M.Sc, Acting Director-General of the Defence Affairs Directorate, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia and Colonel Anže Rode, Deputy Chief of Staff for Support, Slovenian Armed Forces. They both emphasized the importance of cooperation and coordination, also through workshops like this.
In the morning session, representatives of eight countries held presentations on experiences, lessons learned, legal limitations and possible improvements of an existing international framework. In the afternoon session participants were put in two syndicate groups in which specific topics built around military mobility in case of COVID-19 were discussed. On the basis of the outcomes, a set of recommendations were drafted, finalized and shared by the Republic of Slovenia that is currently presiding the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC).
The workshop was used as a platform for an exchange of lessons learned, views and ideas on improving military mobility in a situation of the evacuation of military and civilian personnel from missions and operations in the event of a COVID-19 infection. Its aim was to better address shortfalls and gaps of national and international policies, procedures and practices in the field of the military mobility with particular focus on national operational aspects and decision-making processes referring to legal, administrative and procedural constraints.
The workshop was co-organized by Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia and the Centre for European Perspective in the framework of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC).
27. 11. 2020 | POTC, PR, Security
This year marks the 20th anniversary of adopting the historic UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security (1325), and the 25th anniversary of adopting the Beijing Declaration on Gender Equality. These two documents, together with other UN Security Council resolutions, form the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda.
Commemorating both achievements, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia together with the Slovenian Peacekeeping Operations Training Centre (POTC) organized a virtual international conference “Women, Peace and Security” in the format of the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) Initiative with the additional participation of representatives from the Western Balkan countries and Luxembourg on 26 November 2020.
The introductory speech was given by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Uroš Lampret, and Ms. Katja Geršak, CEP/POTC Executive Director. Ms. Christine Löw, director of the UN Women Liaison Office Geneva, as the keynote speaker reflected on the milestones and setbacks in the past years. She emphasized the importance of women’s equal and meaningful participation in peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. The UN needs to aim towards making women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation a requirement in all mediation teams, political transitions, and the peace processes it leads or co-leads.
According to the reports of the countries, significant progress has been made in on gender mainstreaming in the area of peace and security, which is the result of raising public awareness of women’s equal participation, gender mainstreaming in various policies, increasing women’s involvement in international operations and missions, and preventing sexual violence against women and girls. The constant growth of the percentage of females serving in the national defense forces and their increased participation in international missions and operations has been highlighted throughout the conference. Today women perform a wide range of duties in the armed forces from leadership and command duties through staff duties to various specialist duties. It is important to raise public awareness, that military does not belong exclusively to men and that performance of female soldiers is as professional as one of their male colleagues. Throughout these years countries integrated the WPS Agenda into various lectures within their military education and training systems. Nowadays, we can expect women’s rights to be a part of military school curriculums, pre-deployment courses, and other specialized courses. In connection with the increased educational activities in that field, the need for translation of relevant gender perspective materials into countries’ native languages, has also increased in the past years.
The conference was a great opportunity to analyze, revise, and reflect on the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and the activities accomplished in that field over the past years. A collection of introductory speeches, contributions of participants, and conclusions of the conference will be published in a form of a compendium in the next weeks.
25. 11. 2020 | POTC, PR, Security
Peace Operations Training Centre has proudly implemented its first training, jointly supported by the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. Several other experts have joined training that gathered twenty participants of different backgrounds. Due to the global situation, it was implemented fully online.
The training was organized as an opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1325 United Nations Security Council resolution on women, peace and security and the Beijing Declaration that was adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. Participants have discussed the content and importance of the international documents that frame the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. Additional emphasis was put on understanding the difference between sex and gender and the importance of including women as representatives of half of humanity in all aspects of life. It was pointed out that when women are involved in decision-making, in research, in knowledge production, women do not get forgotten. Female lives and perspectives are brought out of the shadows. This is to benefit of women everywhere, and often, to the benefit of humanity as a whole.
With research, it was proven that the inclusion of women in peace deals and daily mission’ life brings only positive results. The process of women at the negotiating table not only makes it more likely that an agreement will be reached, it also makes it more likely that peace will last. Women frequently bring in issues to the peace-building agenda that male elites tend to overlook: inclusivity and accessibility of processes and institutions and the importance of local and informal spheres. Participants discussed how gender mainstreaming is settled in the EU CSDP missions and in different other international operations.
At the end several experts were invited to share their experiences from the international missions and operations of the EU, NATO, OSCE, and UN from Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Lebanon, Palestine, South Sudan, and Ukraine. Participants have discussed how they can use their good practices of gender mainstreaming in their daily work (current and potentially in the mission abroad).
