Cooperation between Italy and Cameroon: three advanced training courses for judiciary, police, civilian personnel employed in human rights protection, coordinated by Sant'Anna School and funded by Farnesina, EUCTI project, together with local counterparts

The Sant'Anna School is promoting in Yaoundé (Cameroon) three advanced training courses directed, respectively, to the judiciary, police forces and civilian personnel employed in the protection of human rights.

Thanks to the decisive support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Sant'Anna School coordinated, in collaboration with the Cameroon Ministry of Justice and École Nationale d'Administration et de Magistrature, the advanced training course, which ended on Thursday, April 26, on the subject of organized crime and judicial cooperation, with particular reference to economic and financial aspects intended for Cameroonian judges and magistrates. The course called to participate the excellence of the “Italian System” in the subject: the world of research represented by Giovanni Carlo Bruno, first researcher in international law at the CNR, and the world of the judiciary, represented by Lorenzo Salazar, deputy prosecutor general at the Court of Appeal of Naples, contact point of the European Judicial Network and national correspondent of Eurojust.

Also as part of the Project “Strengthening the Justice Systems of African Countries through Training” (2023-2024), funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Sant'Anna School organized the advanced training course for 50 participants from the police forces of various African countries, on the subject of peacekeeping. The training activities, spread over four days of teaching until Friday, May 3, were co-organized with the support of local partners, such as the ’Institut des Relations Internationales du Cameroun and the Ecole Internationale des Forces de Sécurité.  

A third relevant training event was organized by the Sant'Anna School as part of the EU Civilian Training Initiative program, funded by the European Union. The “Training Course for Officers Working on Human Rights in Africa,” scheduled to run until Friday, May 3, and implemented in collaboration with the Institut des Relations Internationales du Cameroun and the Foundation for Peace and Solidarity, aims to help train civilian personnel with technical-operational human rights knowledge and expertise in order to improve their capabilities as officials of regional and sub-regional African organizations.

The relevance of these initiatives for cooperation between Italy, the European Union and Cameroon is evidenced by the intervention, during the opening ceremonies of the three courses, of the Italian ambassador to Cameroon, Filippo Scammacca del Murgo, and the head of the European Union delegation in Yaoundé, Jean-Marc Châtaigner.

“This initiative - says Andrea de Guttry, Full Professor of International Law at the Sant'Anna School and Director of the Courses - further consolidates the Italian and European commitment in Cameroon and highlights the leading role of the Sant'Anna School, thanks to the support of the italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the EU Civilian Training Initiative, in designing and conducting technical cooperation activities and in strengthening the rule of law in this area so crucial for the stability of the African continent and Europe". 

Cover photo: Yaoundé (source: Wikipedia).