3 June 2013
ACCRA, Ghana – A team of eight Zimbabwean university lecturers visited the ASSN Secretariat in Accra on June 3, 2013. The lecturers were hosted by ASSN Interim Executive Secretary Eboe Hutchful and Maj Gen (Rtd) Nii Carl Coleman, Associate Executive Director of the African Security Dialogue and Research (ASDR – the ASSN’s local affiliate in Ghana).
The objective of the lecturers’ visit was to gain exposure to continental good practices in the teaching of peace and security courses, particularly in their main area of interest, Security Sector Transformation (SST).
Noting that no Zimbabwean university currently offers fully developed academic programmes on SST as an academic concept, the lecturers sought to find out how SST can be mainstreamed into existing academic programmes. They were also keen to conceptualise how specific degree programmes focussing on SST and Security Sector Reform (SSR) can be packaged and supported.
The briefings and discussions covered the course objectives, course content and features, approaches to learning and the expected learning outcomes. Maj Gen Coleman gave the Zimbabwean Delegation a briefing on the Security Sector Governance (SSG) and Security Sector Management (SSM) Courses that ASDR previously ran in Ghana on an annual basis.
During their time in Accra, the academics also visited with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) in their continuing efforts to granulate a generic curriculum for peace and security studies in Zimbabwe.
