CCCPA and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) of Sweden joined hands to conduct a foundational training course on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) for African professionals. 
 
The training, which took place from 10-16 March 2019, brought together 23 participants, including representatives of national DDR commissions, and government ministries from 11 African countries (Egypt, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda and Nigeria), as well as representatives from peacekeeping operations and regional organizations, most notably the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region  and the Lake Chad Basin Commission. Conducting the training is a distinguished group of world-class trainers, facilitators and field experts, including from the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (UN-DPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 
 
Coming only weeks after Egypt assumed the chairmanship of the African Union (AU), the training aims to “operationalize the African Union normative framework on DDR, including the recently developed AU Operational Guidance Notes (OGN)on DDR,” said CCCPA’s Director General Ashraf Swelam. The AU OGNs are a set of seven policy-oriented field manuals addressing different aspects of DDR in Africa--in mission and non-mission settings, including national frameworks, reintegration, detention, foreign fighters, and children and comen. The overarching aim of the OGNs is to promote African ownership in DDR programs, in compliance with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and Silencing the Guns Strategy.
 
The training comes as an activity under the project “Consolidating Peace, Security and Stability in Africa – 2018/2019”, which is funded by the Government of Japan, through the UNDP.