Protection of Civilians Course ends its 2nd day
Itaipava (RJ) - This Wednesday afternoon, July 15, the Brazilian Peace Operations Joint Training Center (CCOPAB) ended the works of the second day of the UN protection of civilians (POC) Course - Tactical Level to the members of the Latin American Association of Peacekeeping Operations Training Centers (ALCOPAZ) and representatives of national institutions.
The goal of the course, which lasts 4 days, is to give guidelines to the military, police and civilian personnel in UN peace missions whose mandates include protection of civilians. On this second day, the POC Tactical Training Module was presented to the participants who worked on a case study by the end of the day.
Nowadays, most of the UN peace missions which are based on Chapter VII have recommendations on POC. Missions such as UNMISS, MONUSCO and MINUSTAH have to guarantee security and stability in relation to civilians.
According to Major Hélio Tenorio dos Santos, from the Police of São Paulo and who served as UNPol in East Timor from 2001 to 2003, the course has overcome his expectations: "nowadays the theme dominates the UN mission, it is a trend that has been growing and is now irreversible".
Military and civilian representatives linked to the Armed Forces, to the police of São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, to the Military Brigade of Rio Grande do Sul, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Fluminense Federal University, to the University of Brasilia, to Getulio Vargas Foundation and to Pandia Calogeras Institute took part in the course. Amongst the foreigners, there are representatives from Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay and an instructor from Austria.
TRANSLATION: CPT Ana Cardoso
