Executive Short Courses
Executive Short Courses
Rationale
IPSS has launched a new initiative to conceive, design and deliver innovative short courses and training workshops in support of the African Union (AU) and other clients on peace and security issues. Aimed at specialized capacity training for a wide spectrum of officials, the proposed courses seek to further extend the Institute’s niche as a leading centre of excellence and, with the mandate of the AU, to play a leading role in responding to the “intellectual challenge” of addressing the myriad peace and security issues confronting the continent.
Consolidating the value-added benefits of IPSS capacity training in African peace and security
Despite the huge successes achieved in the continuous delivery of the Executive Master’s in Managing Peace and Security (MPSA) programme, the demand to come up with and implement a wider range of capacity training is growing by the day. Increasingly, for instance, the AU, RECs and other governmental and civil society institutions are now increasingly involved in managing a complexity of peace and security issues such as migration, natural resource governance, bio-security, cyber-security, youth (in)security, maritime safety and security, climate change and conflict prevention, to name a few. In several sectors with vastly different requirements, evidence of substantial capacity deficits still hinder efforts to play full, meaningful and impactful roles in addressing the continent’s myriad peace and security challenges.
On the basis of preliminary interactions with different constituencies, including existing partners and prospective clients, adequately meeting the capacity gaps would not necessarily require pursuing formal academic training of long duration. Rather, it would suffice to identify, design and deploy courses and workshops that are short-term, demand-driven, issue-specific, and targeted to the mushrooming and evolving needs of clients.
In light of these concerns, therefore, IPSS seeks to provide a platform for a wider pan-African constituency of target participants and institutions to gain exposure to new knowledge, skills and competences that would enable them to function effectively in a complex and professionally challenging environment.
To further drive home the specific and timely imperative for targeted short courses, IPSS seeks to build synergies and explore areas of cooperation among different stakeholders, in particular the African Union (APSA, AGA, AUBP and PSD) and other multilateral institutions. Certain of the unmistaken need to open new vistas for professional and capacity development, IPSS seeks to take the lead in most – if not all – training and capacity development matters; particularly those that have direct bearing on the mandates of the AU in peace and security. Invariably, too, IPSS has the wherewithal to meaningfully key into and meet the growing needs of major institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the European Union (EU) and the World Bank (WB) either by scaling up or defining new programmatic priorities for themselves; such as those around managing resilience and capability deficits in post-conflict contexts.
As a member of the African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA), IPSS is in a position to support the AU and other stakeholders to coordinate, harmonize and standardize training curricula, content, and delivery in a wide spectrum of cognate thematic areas. Finally, by virtue of its location in Addis Ababa, the diplomatic capital of Africa, IPSS is in prime position to retain greater comparative advantages in research, training and advocacy on peace and security issues; not only on the basis of the MoU with the AU but also in terms of the resources available to contribute to the successful implementation of several projects that enhance the advancement of knowledge and skills in the areas of peace and security on the continent.