A group of 28 military, police and civilian personnel from six Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) member states on Monday begun a regional course entitled "sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)” at the Rwanda Peace Academy (RPA) in Musanze.

The one-week course has attracted participants from Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan.

Col (Rtd) Jill Rutaremara, the Director of RPA, who opened the course said that sexual and gender-based violence is one of the biggest humanitarian challenges today especially in Peace Support Operations settings.

Rutaremara said that SGBV takes various forms and occurs in diverse situations and contexts across the world.  

"In conflict-affected states, for example, rape is often used as a strategy of warfare to undermine the enemy and to demoralize and destabilize communities,” Rutaremara said.

He added that the big majority of the victims or survivors of SGBV are women and girls, stressing that women and children face additional risks of being subjected to SGBV when fleeing from conflict zones.

He urged course participants to spend enough time discussing key tasks that should be performed in mission areas to prevent SGBV.

"It requires a clear understanding of the need for coordination and collaboration among the various stakeholders involved in prevention of SGBV; the payoff/dividends associated with prevention of SGBV and accountability on SGBV, as well as the legal and other frameworks associated with Sexual and gender-based violence,” Rutaremara said.

Major Agnetta Apondi, from the Kenya Defence Force (KDF), said that the course is very imperative especially for those preparing to participate in peacekeeping missions.  

"This training will help us to recognize the intricacies that are involved in sexual and gender-based violence because these are the things that affect the troops being deployed in peacekeeping missions,” Apondi said.

Major (Rtd) Betty Mukarugwiza from Rwanda,  said that through exchanging ideas with other participants, the training will permit her to fight SGBV since it is a global phenomenon and it affects physically,  mentally and economically; particularly when children are abused.

The course is organized through a partnership between the Rwanda Peace Academy, the Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme.