The Global Peace Operations Initiative: background and issues for Congress.

Updated February 8, 2006

Summary

The Administration has requested $102.6 million in FY2007 funds for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), a multilateral, five-year program with planned U.S. contributions of some $660 million from FY2005 through FY2009. Its primary purpose is to train and equip 75,000 military troops, a majority of them African, for peacekeeping operations by 2010. GPOI also supports an Italian training center for gendarme (constabulary police) forces in Vicenza, Italy. In addition, GPOI is promoting the development of an international transportation and logistics support system for peacekeepers, and is encouraging an information exchange to improve international coordination of peace operations training and exercises in Africa. In June 2004, G8 leaders pledged to support the goals of the initiative.

GPOI incorporates previous capabilities-building programs for Africa. From FY1997-FY2005, the United States spent just over $121 million on GPOI's predecessor program that was funded through the State Department Peacekeeping (PKO) account: the Clinton Administration's African Crisis Response Initiative , i.e., ACRI and its successor, the Bush Administrations's African Crisis Operations Training i.e., ACOTA. (The term ACOTA is now used to refer to GPOI's training program in Africa). Through mid-2005, the United States trained troops from nine African nations--Benin, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, and Senegal. Subsequently, three African nations were added to the roster: Gabon, South Africa, and Zambia, and a fourth, Nigeria, is scheduled to join the program in 2006. Some $33 million was provided from FY1998-FY2005 to support classroom training of 31 foreign militaries through the Foreign Military Financing account's Enhanced International Peacekeeping Capabilities program (EIPC).

In mid-2005, the Administration began expanding the geographical scope of GPOI to selected countries in Central America and Europe with funding from supplemental funding in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2005 (H.R. 4818, P.L. 108-447). It also has established a communications network in Asia.

Congressional action on FY2006 foreign operations legislation left uncertain the amount of FY2006 GPOI funding. The Administration request was $114.4 million. In FY2006 foreign operations appropriations, Congress did not allocate a specific amount for GPOI and funded the total State Department PKO account, which contains GPOI funds, at $20 million under the Administration's request.

A major issue for the second session of the 109th Congress may be whether international training efforts through GPOI and its predecessor programs are having the desired effect. Results of a study contracted by the State Department in September 2005 and currently underway may influence Congressional opinion. Another issue may that may concern Members is whether the State Department exercises sufficient control and oversight over private contractors.

This report will be updated as events warrant.

 
Contents 
 
Background 1 
 
GPOI Purposes and Activities 
  GPOI Goals and Needs 
    Demand for Peacekeepers 
    Need for Gendarme/Constabulary Forces 
  U.S. Peacekeeping Training in Africa 
  Development of the "Beyond Africa" Program 
  Foreign Response and Contributions 
    The Italian Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units 
      (CoESPU) 
FY2005 GPOI Funding and Activities 
  Funding and Allocations 
 
Congressional Action on FY2006 Funding 
  Appropriations 
  Authorization 
 
Issues for the 109th Congress 
      Are International Training Efforts through GPOI and Its 
        Predecessor Programs Having the Desired Effect? 
      Can the State Department Exercise Sufficient Control and 
         Oversight of Private Contractors? 

Background

The Bush Administration has requested $102.6 million in FY2007 State Department funding for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). The Administration launched the five-year (FY2005-FY2009) $660 million initiative in mid-2004 as a means to alleviate the perceived shortage worldwide of trained peacekeepers and "gendarmes" (police with military skills, a.k.a. constabulary police), as well as to increase available resources to transport and sustain them. While the United States has provided considerable support to implement several peace processes and to support peacekeepers in the field from a variety of budget accounts for well over a decade, it has provided relatively little funding to build up foreign military capabilities to perform peacekeeping operations. (1)

The United States previously provided peacekeeping capacity-building assistance to foreign militaries primarily under two programs, the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program (ACOTA) and its predecessor program, and the Enhanced International Peacekeeping …