The Regional Training of Trainers Course on Prevention of Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Violence began today, Monday, 29 September, at the Rwanda Peace Academy (RPA) in Musanze and will run up to 10 October 2025. The course is jointly organized by the Ministry of Defence, the Rwanda Defence Force, the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, and the Rwanda Peace Academy.  

The course will be attended by a total of twenty-five military and police officers from five African countries, namely; Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan, as well as from the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) Headquarters. The facilitators from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda will facilitate the two-week course.

The aim of the course is to strengthen and broaden expertise on preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and armed violence, while also expanding the pool of security sector personnel qualified to deliver Dallaire Institute training within their own institutions and, when needed, across the continent.

The Director of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace, and Security – Africa Centre of Excellence, Maj Gen (Rtd) Ferdinand Safari, presided over the opening ceremony.