Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people, and of what nationalities, the UK is training as international peacekeepers; what is the form of such training; and by which UK personnel it is provided.
Earl Howe
Her Majesty’s Government makes a significant contribution to improving the effectiveness of peacekeeping forces through its training activities.
The Ministry of Defence delivers training to overseas militaries through the deployment of Short Term Training Teams (STTTs) and deployable experts, and via our overseas training establishments:
– British Peace Support Team (East Africa) (BPST(EA)), focused on delivering training to African Mission in Somalia contributing countries.
– British Peace Support Training (South Africa) (BPST(SA)), focused on training troops deployed to West Africa (Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Mali).
– British Military Advisory Training Team (Czech Republic) (BMATT Czech), providing Peace Support Operations (PSOs) training to partner nations including Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, and Romania.
– Peace Support Operations Training Centre (PSOTC) (Sarajevo), delivering training to personnel from Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) and other countries including Austria, Croatia, Turkey, Tunisia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
These establishments provide training on a range of themes including theatre specific pre-deployment training, as well as courses on gender, Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), and Human Trafficking. The training is carried out by a wide variety of UK Armed Forces personnel, most of whom are dedicated trainers in their fields. They also draw on the expertise of other specialists within the Forces.
In the last 12 months, BPST(EA) and deployed UK-based Short Term Training Teams have trained more than 7,000 soldiers and police from nine countries through 68 different training tasks. Training is adapted depending on the needs of the country. BPSTs adjust courses to include high-end technological intelligence training, logistics, counter-IED, and leadership and operational planning.
In the same period, BPST(SA) has trained 1,700 Malawian military personnel in preparation for their deployment to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). In the coming year, 600-800 Zambian troops are due to be trained by BPST(SA) before their deployment to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
BMATT Czech has provided training in Peace Support Operations to 424 personnel from partner countries, a number of whom are now capable of delivering Peace Support Operation training in-country themselves.
PSOTC, now under command of BiH forces, supported by UK trainers, has trained 46 military personnel from a number of countries in preventing sexual violence in conflict.
