The Africa Logistic Forum commenced in Accra, Ghana, with opening remarks delivered by Ambassador Robert P. Jackson. The forum brought together distinguished colleagues from the African Union and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies to address logistics challenges within Africa's security sector.
Ambassador Jackson highlighted the significance of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, emphasizing its mission "to provide training, education and research to foster peace and stability in Africa." He noted that the center has trained over 11,000 individuals from various organizations in essential aspects of peacekeeping operations.
The forum serves as a platform for the United States to support African nations in examining logistics challenges. It focuses on analyzing logistic gaps, exploring practical applications, and surveying principles for effective logistics management. According to Ambassador Jackson, "Logistics encounter special challenges in unstable areas," particularly due to high transportation costs and limited infrastructure services.
The African Union's role was underscored as crucial for enhancing operational capabilities through necessary peacekeeping logistics under conflict area rules of engagement in missions across Sudan, Burundi, and Somalia. The United States aims to assist African nations by providing experienced personnel with proper equipment and training.
Ghana was acknowledged as a success story for its contributions to UN peacekeeping operations over the past eight years. The U.S. supports these efforts through training exercises like Logistics Peacekeeping Operations and the African Deployment Assistance Partnership Team conducted in Ghana, Togo, and Benin.
These initiatives focus on sustainment principles such as preventive maintenance checks and logistical estimates while bridging deployment capacity gaps among participating nations in peacekeeping operations.
In his closing remarks, Ambassador Jackson quoted Kofi Annan: "More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together." He expressed confidence that collaborative efforts would help achieve shared goals.