The Director of United States Army’s Africa Contingency Operations Training & Assistance (ACOTA), Col. Timothy Rainey has said that Rwanda army is the most capable World’s peacekeepers.
Col. Rainey said this during the launch of a two-day workshop that brought together officials from Rwanda Defence Forces, US Embassy in Kigali as well as delegates from Washington D.C.
The two-day workshop which kicked off yesterday is aimed at reviewing the lessons learnt in Peace Support Operations (PSO).
The workshop takes stock of the last years experience for the RDF Forces who served in missions abroad.
Speaking to journalists, Col. Rainey said that: “USA is happy to partner with Rwanda Defence Forces, one of the most Professional Defence Forces in Africa that has performed very well in restoring peace and security in various Peacekeeping Missions.
The RDF swift deployment in Central African Republic and the way they are restoring order in that troubled country makes Rwanda a very good partner with USA in the interest of Regional Security.”
He added that: “In just six days after arriving in CAR, it didn’t take RDF peacekeepers to demonstrate their brave experience in peacekeeping operations.”
While opening the workshop, RDF Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Patrick Nyamvumba stressed the importance of incorporating the lessons learnt from Rwanda’s experience in various peacekeeping missions, calling on participants to take the opportunity of the workshop to learn a lot.
Rwanda among the biggest contributors in peacekeeping missions
RDF spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Joseph Nzabamwita said that Rwanda Defence Forces has been involved in different peacekeeping missions.
“Since May 2004, Rwanda participates in different peacekeeping missions under African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
Rwanda currently maintains more than 5,200 peacekeepers in various missions and is presently ranked the 6th biggest troop contributor in peacekeeping operations in the world,” he said.
The Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program is funded and managed by the U.S. Department of State.
The initiative is designed to improve African militaries capabilities by providing selected training and equipment necessary for multinational peace support operations.
U.S. Africa Command supports the ACOTA program by providing military mentors, trainers, and advisors at the request of the State Department.
ACOTA provides a full range of peacekeeping training and instruction tailored to match a country’s needs and capabilities. The program focuses on 25 sub-Saharan African countries who are scheduled to participate in peace support operation or who are designated to be in a standby mode to do so.
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