On 4 March 2025, Senior Officials from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States visited the SADC Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre (RPTC) in Harare, Zimbabwe, to familiarize themselves with the Centre's operations.
The visit was conducted on the margins of the preceding meetings to the SADC Council of Ministers Meeting, scheduled for 12–14 March 2025.
During the tour, the Acting SADC RPTC Commandant, Colonel Coleen Mafika, informed the Senior Officials that the Centre promotes regional cooperation in peace and security among SADC Member States and builds the capacity of SADC at the regional level to participate in peacekeeping or Peace Support Operations (PSOs).
Established in 1996 to provide training for peace support missions in the SADC region, the Centre is integral to the core objectives of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation, contributing to regional efforts to create a peaceful, politically stable, and secure environment.
The Centre fulfils the training needs of the SADC Standby Force in all components: civilian, military, and police. The Centre also addresses SADC training needs for deployment in line with African Union and United Nations standards and trains peacekeeping practitioners, enabling all SADC Member States to participate in PSOs. Through its capacity-building work, the RPTC ensures that the SADC region keeps pace with contemporary dynamics and trends through its multi-dimensional PSOs.
