24.04.2017.
Course on “Protection of Civilians in Multinational Operations”
A five-day international course “Protection of civilians in multinational operations” has started today in the Centre for Peacekeeping Operations of the SAF.The objective of the course is to train the participants to understand the concept of protection of civilians in UN multinational operations in accordance with the mission mandate and rules of engagement at operational level.
The course has been officially opened by the Acting Head of the Centre for Peacekeeping Operations Colonel Nikola Dejanovic, who wished the participants including 12 members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, 2 members of the Ministry of the Interior, 1 members of the Hungarian Armed Forces and 1 member of the Chinese Armed Forces, successful work and briefly presented the Centre.
“By organization of such courses, the Serbian Armed Forces would like to impact on raising awareness about the necessity of protection of civilians during the engagement of units in multinational operations and in this respect this activity is very important”, Colonel Dejanovic said.
The Course Director Lieutenant Colonel Goran Topalovic confirmed that on each killed soldier in area of operation almost ten civilians lose their lives. He called upon the participants to use the opportunity, be active and improve their knowledge in this sphere.The instructors from the Centre for Peacekeeping Operations, lecturers from the partnership peacekeeping training centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and Austria, as well as representatives of the UN with the experience in working on human rights protection, are engaged on the course.
The course “Protection of civilians in multinational operations” is the second one going through the process of certification by the UN. Therefore, an evaluator from the UN Integrated Training Service is present. The course for staff officers in the Centre for Peacekeeping Operations was already certified in November 2015.
