Call for Applications: Protection of Civilians Course (POC) 2022-2

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In short
Course Date/Duration 10 October – 21 October 2022 (two weeks)
Course Capacity 25 participants
Target Group Civilian, Police and Military personnel (see details below)
Course Language English
Application Deadline 12 August 2022

Background

The changing nature of armed conflicts has resulted in an increased civilian-combatant interface, to the extent that contemporary conflicts have been referred to as ‘wars among the people’. Civilian populations bear the greatest brunt of today’s complex and intractable conflicts. This changing nature of conflicts has necessitated both doctrinal and operational shifts in peace operations.

Protection of Civilians has increasingly become an integral component of contemporary peace operations. Emerging international support to the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ norm notwithstanding, peacekeepers and other actors involved in peace support operations are often not adequately prepared or trained to deal with the daunting task of protecting civilians.

Course Aim

The aim of the POC course is to enhance the capacity of participants for the effective implementation of POC mandates in Peace Operations, in order to mitigate the effects of conflicts on civilians.

The course is certified by United Nations Department for Peace Operations.

Target Group

The target group mainly includes military, police and civilian personnel who are currently deployed or could be deployed in UN, AU or ECOWAS peace operations at operational level. (For military officers: Maj, Lt Col, Col or equivalent; for police officers: ASP to CSUPT or equivalent; for civilian staff: P3 to P5, or equivalent).

  • UN/AU/RECs Staff
  • Mission personnel
  • Military & Police personnel
  • Humanitarian Actors
  • Government officials
  • Non-Governmental Organizations
  • Civil Society Organizations

We strive for a balanced representation of genders, nationalities, missions and components.

Objectives

On completion of this course, participants will:

  • Know the key concepts of protection of civilians (POC), child protection (CP), and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Peace Operations.
  • Understand the role of different protection actors.
  • Understand the relevance of the core legal concepts and norms supporting POC.
  • Identify POC strategies at all level and understand the process of planning at the tactical level.
  • Know how to translate conceptual and legal frameworks of POC into appropriate action at the tactical level.

Course Content

The POC course combines theoretical and practical sessions on the following modules:

  • Introduction to POC
  • UN and AU Approaches to POC
  • Legal Framework of POC
  • POC and its Interlinkages to SSR, R2P and Terrorism
  • Gender and POC
  • Decision Making and Planning
  • POC in Practice (incl. Exercise “CARANA”)

 

Teaching Method

The course will be delivered through a combination of lectures, case studies, small group works and exercises. The “Collaborative Problem-Based Learning Approach” will be used in the delivery of the course: participants will play an active role under the guidance of an experienced team of facilitators.

How to Apply

Interested applicants are requested to kindly fill and submit an online application form.
Access the application by pressing the “How to Apply” button.

The course usually attracts a lot of interest. A selection committee decides on the final admission to the course latest by 1 April 2022.

Contact at KAIPTC

For course content issues
Marc Wettstein
Lt Col, Swiss Armed Forces
Course Director POC

Office: +233 (0) 302 71 82 00 Ext. 1315
Cell: +233 (0) 549 46 68 44

Email: marc.wettstein@kaiptc.org