Press releases

Training Programme for PSSM \ Handover to the Regional Centre on Small Arms in Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi. On 22 March 2019, the German peace and conflict research institute BICC together with the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA), the German Federal Foreign Office, the Multinational Small Arms and Ammunition Group (MSAG) and the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC) organized a handover ceremony of the Regional PSSM (Physical Security and Stockpile Management) Train the Trainer Course to RECSA.

Germany had been the lead nation in the highly-effective MSAG engagement from 2012 to 2019 which successfully trained over 300 participants from 18 countries as well as qualified 22 instructors. Six of these instructors also reached the highest training level of Senior Instructors, enabling them to develop and implement training courses by themselves. With this training the German military support within the Regional PSSM Training Seminar process for East Africa came to an end. Together with colleagues from other MSAG-members, such as Austria and Great Britain, experts of the Verification Center of the German Armed Forces prepared and conducted the training from its inception. As planned, the full responsibility of organizing, planning and implementing the training was officially handed over to the RECSA Executive Secretary HE Badreldin Elamin by the German Ambassador to Kenya HE Annett Günther on 22 March 2019.
RECSA thanked Germany for its valuable investment of resources, personnel and funds to establish the infrastructure necessary to enhance regional weapons and ammunition capacity. RECSA accepted full responsibility for managing the largest and most effective PSSM training programme in the region while emphasizing that in order for this core engine to continue to generate a steady stream of qualified PSSM Instructors further financial support would be necessary. In this respect, RECSA and an Austrian MSAG representative jointly presented the “PSSM Project Plan 2024”, a Programme of Work seeking financial support to ensure the sustainability of the process till 2024. Austria, as part of MSAG will provide technical advisory support to RECSA from October 2019 until March 2024.
The event was attended by several representatives of donor countries, specialized agencies including the UN as well as several key regional organizations interested in enhancing security across the continent by countering the threat of illicit weapons and ammunition proliferation.
Press release "Training Programme for Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) \ Handover to the Regional Centre on Small Arms in Nairobi, Kenya" (pdf)