Citizens for Global Solutions

PEACE AND SECURITY | GLOBAL PEACE OPERATIONS INITIATIVE

Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI)

In contrast to other continents of the developing world, Africa is struggling with an increasing poverty level and decreasing life span. Among the adult populations, the literacy level is less than 40% with school enrollment on the decline, especially among females. Corruption is rampant, and brutal conflicts are ongoing in Sudan, Sierra Leon, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo, and Liberia—just to name a few. Although the continent is in crisis, development assistance funds have been decreasing. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the US and other G-8 nations have committed to a sustained development program for the alleviation of regional conflicts in concord with the United Nations Charter.

The G8 Action Plan was developed two years ago at the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada in June 2002 where G8 nations agreed to “make conflict prevent and resolution a top priority’ in Africa. The Action Plan is a multifaceted endeavor which seeks to resolve violent conflict and undertake peace operations through technical and financial assistance from committed G8 nations. These nations will work closely with other African nations to best guide new and existing resources towards greater peace and stability in Africa by 2010. As part of the G8 Africa Action Plan the United States announced the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) at the G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia, June 2004.

There are groups which have been set up in the near past to aid the efforts of various organizations in Africa to promote peace initiatives. The Peace Facility for Africa was one such group set up by the EU to provide logistical support in deploying international peacekeeping troops. Other G8 nations such as the US, Germany, France, and the UK have been training and equipping units in order to sustain peace support operations in regional hot spots. The GPOI will utilize these groups as a framework for their new strategy and will greatly expand U.S. foreign military training and equipping efforts, including constabulary training.

The initiative focuses on military training (with G8 nations) to increase African peacekeepers and constabulary forces, as well as essential equipment, transport and logistical support for sub-regional organizations to assist with peace operations.

Delivery of the G8 initiative relies on the capabilities of new and existing institutions as well as support from the international community. One of the key areas of improvement will be to strengthen institutional capacity building in order to effectively execute peace support operations. The following are implementation steps outlined in the G8 Action Plan:

Train and equip 75,000 troops (15,000 per year) by 2010. The goal will be to train and provide capability maintenance activities for 10 African battalions per year and 5 battalions per year in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Asia.
Increase coordination with the UN, EU, and African partners such as the AU.
Develop a transportation and logistics support organization to ensure timely interventions in a crisis.
Build more peace support operations capabilities in other regions of Africa by improving regional training centers
Increase funding and support for the training of constabulary forces. As the U.S. does not have expertise in this area, they will support Italian initiatives to establish training centers for peace support operations.

The Global Peace Operations Initiative requires $660mn over five years, so far it is not clear which department will fund the initiative. GPOI will dramatically increase the small amount of U.S. resources currently dedicated to African military training and supporting sub-regional organizations such as the AU. However, 65-75% of total expenditure for the initiative will come from international contributions, as opposed to U.S. funds.

This is a bold initiative requiring long-term commitment and significant financial backing in order to fulfill its goals of regional peace. Although current or upcoming peacekeeping missions in Africa will not benefit from this initiative, it does aim to create a capacity that can be utilized by the UN.

+ TAKE ACTION