Cameroon plans UN peacekeeper training school

UNITED NATIONS - Cameroon plans to set up an international training centre for African police to prepare them for U.N. peacekeeping operations on the continent, diplomats at the United Nations said on Monday.

France has pledged $1 million toward the project, which aims to expand an existing national police training center in the west African country, said Brigadier General Dominique Trinquand of the French embassy.

Trinquand said the project was forecast to cost $6.3 million for infrastructure, $2.5 million for equipment and then $1 million in annual operating costs to train 1,000 police officers a year.

As a bilingual country, Cameroon has the advantage of being able to train police for missions in both French- and English-speaking countries, Trinquand said.

"France will do everything it can in the field of training and financing to strengthen this school," French Minister of State for Cooperation Jean-Marie Bockel told reporters before meeting representatives of Cameroon at U.N. headquarters.

An official from Cameroon's embassy said Monday's meeting with representatives of U.N. member states and from the U.N. peacekeeping department was positive and just the first step.

Trinquand said a meeting to raise funds will be held in the spring and then it would take a year or so before the expanded facility could open. The school will expand on an existing training centre at Awae, near the capital Yaounde.

The United Nations has eight peace-keeping operations in Africa, staffed by both African and non-African forces.

U.N. operations on the continent have been marred by several cases of sexual abuse by peacekeepers, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast.