Photo By Andrea Chaney | Lt. Col. Kitoko Kadida, a battalion commander in the Rwandan army, is preparing for...... read more read more
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By Capt. Andi Hahn
Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Lt. Col. Kitoko Kadida, a battalion commander in the Rwandan army, is preparing for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), but not before gaining a wider perspective in peacekeeping operations at Exercise Shanti Prayas-2 in Kathmandu, Nepal, from March 25-April 7.
As a representative from his country of Rwanda, Kitoko participated in the staff exercise, which brought officers from 23 different nations together to plan, coordinate and execute peacekeeping scenarios that can be applied directly to real-world situations.
The two-week training exercise is part of the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), a U.S. State Department program executed in the region by facilitators from U.S. Pacific Command. The training addresses major gaps in international peacekeeping operations. The program aims to build and maintain capability, capacity, and effectiveness of peacekeepers deploying to United Nations missions.
Compared to other countries, Rwanda is fairly new to peacekeeping operations. In 2004, they sent the first contingent to Darfur to promote peace in a war-torn country. Kitoko served as a peacekeeping company commander in Darfur in 2006 and returned again in 2010 as a staff officer.
“We have peacekeepers all over the world,” Kitoko said. “We have sent police to Haiti, military to Darfur, even civilians get involved in different peacekeeping missions.”
Kitoko said he benefited a lot from the GPOI exercise and appreciates the opportunity to participate in such a global experience.
“It was a great experience learning how to plan at the headquarters level,” Kitoko said. “In my experience, I worked at the sector level but now I have the capacity to operate at the headquarter level.”
Kitoko especially benefited from working with multinational officers.
“We had a lot of interaction with many officers from different countries; different experience, different doctrine and different knowledge,” he said. “I feel I will take all of this back to educate my country.”
When Kitoko returns to Rwanda, he said he will share his experiences with GPOI and peacekeeping exercises with his officers and unit.
“When they [his officers] go for missions, they can at least take knowledge from what I have learned and apply it.”
“I recommend this initiative to invite more officers from all around the world to participate in future exercises, so we can prevent conflict and encourage peace,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.22.2013 01:07 |
| Story ID: | 105571 |
| Location: | KATHMANDU, NP |
| Web Views: | 1,078 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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