*ARMY WAR COLLEGE NIGERIA HOST FACULTY CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP ON PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN CONFLICT*
The Army War College Nigeria (AWCN) in collaboration with the Centre for Civilians in Conflict has organized a 2-day workshop on the protection of civilians in conflict.
The workshop was held at Army War College Nigeria premises and was facilitated by 4 outstanding resource persons from the Centre for Civilians in Conflict which include Col Tom Shepherd (rtd) from Washington DC, Mr Tunde Ojei-Country Director of CIVIC, Wg Cdr Salmanu Musa (rtd) and Dr Sarem Ugoh.
The aim of the workshop was to build the capacity of members of faculty on protection of civilians in conflict and improve their capacity to impart the knowledge and understanding on participants of Army War Course.
The workshop was attended by all members of faculty, AWCN and 3 faculty members from the Air Force War College.
The workshop was declared open by the Commandant Army War College Nigeria, Maj Gen C Ofoche who was represented by the Director of Studies (DOS) Brig Gen WM Dangana.
In his welcome address, the Commandant admonished participants to take advantage of the workshop to improve their capacity and bridge the existing knowledge gaps on the subject of protecting civilians in conflict.
The workshop was rich in content and highly educative.
It featured lectures, group discussions and exercises.
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The topics covered include the Strategic Value of Protecting Civilians, Understanding and Tracking Civilian Harm, Managing the Consequences of Civilian Harm: Amends, and Tactical and Operational Planning for Civilian Harm Mitigation during Operations.
The facilitators emphasized on the relevance of planning with key considerations on the protection of civilians in all operations.
The making of amends to correct a wrong act or harm was stressed by the facilitators which is believed would go a long way to build confidence and restore fruitful civil-military relationship in area of operations.
The crux of the workshop was the group discussions and exercises, where participants were tasked to identify key considerations for protection of civilians in conflict and use these considerations as major factors for campaign planning and designs.
The workshop shed more light on the difference between harm and war crime as well as international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Harm in conflict is not considered a war crime and cannot be subjected to prosecution, but if not carefully identified and managed, it can lead to frosty relationship between civilians and military in operation area which may lead to civilians shifting their support to the adversary.
The Commandant AWCN, Maj Gen C Ofoche gave the closing remarks at the closing ceremony.
In his remarks, he discussed the premium placed on the value of human lives, which he noted has virtually disappeared from the thinking of most persons.
He urged participants to reflect on the need to place high preview on human lives and work towards restoring that value in the society.
After 2-days of intensive training and knowledge sharing, participants were presented with certificate by the team leader, Col Tom Shepherd (rtd).
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