UK supports Ethiopian peacekeeping.

Friday 24th February 2017, the FDRE Peace Support Training Centre (PSTC) graduated students who have completed their short term training provided by the centre with UK support.

For United Nations Security Council members like UK and Ethiopia, global peace and security is a top priority. Nowhere is this more relevant than in Africa with 60% of conflicts and 90% Peacekeeping budget spent on P&S here, what happens in Africa is extremely important to both countries.

The UK is committed to working with African institutions to more effectively reduce, manage and resolve conflicts here. This includes working with the African Union and Regional Economic Communities where we seek to build the capacity and consistency of peacekeeping interventions on the continent.

Ethiopia plays a critical role in this, both within the region and across the continent. Its provision of peacekeepers to multiple UN and AU missions is hugely important, for example in the Sudans and Somalia.

While handing out certificates, Ambassador Susanna Moorehead congratulated trainees for successfully completing two courses provided by the centre with UK support.

Ambassador Moorehead said:

“Global peace and security are important for both the UK and Ethiopia. The UK aims to support efforts to end some of the world’s most destabilising conflicts. It has a long history of supporting UN and AU peacekeeping.

“Ethiopia is critical to security in the region and more widely, and its provision of troops to multiple UN & AU peace operations is hugely important. The UK views it as a capable partner and remains keen to help where it can to improve standards and performance – to the benefit of UN and AU peace operations.

“The UK has long supported Ethiopia’s peacekeeping capability through its Peace Support Training Centre (PSTC), based in Addis Ababa. Our joint work will greatly support stronger UN and AU peace operations both here and globally. This latest course will contribute to this aim.”