Support for reform of professional military education in Mauritania

  • 23 Feb. 2017 -
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  • Last updated: 24 Feb. 2017 12:53

A NATO expert team visited the National Staff College (École nationale d’état-major de la Mauritanie - ENEM) in Nouakchott, in February 2017, to chart progress and plans for the Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) in Mauritania.

The occasion marked four years of cooperation through DEEP between NATO and Mauritania, where particularly France has performed a leading academic role with the support of the United States. Since 2015, ENEM educators have received support to develop an operational planning and design course in accordance with NATO planning standards.

DEEP has substantially increased the impulse for reform and self-renewal within the Mauritanian professional military education system. Through continuous multi-year engagement with NATO experts, ENEM has adapted exercises to the regional context and revised its course programme to emulate the structure of the NATO Generic Officer Reference Curriculum. The Mauritanian faculty has developed course modules in multiple languages of instruction on crisis management, counterterrorism and counterinsurgency.

In 2011, Mauritania was the first member of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue partnership to refer to modernisation and transformation within the armed forces in its Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme with NATO.

The Chief of General Army Staff of Mauritania formally requested DEEP in 2012, in support of the transformation of Mauritania’s professional military education. After the first three-year phase was completed in 2015, Nouakchott requested the continuation of the programme for an additional three years. As a result of these efforts, Mauritania has become a member of international educator networks coordinated by NATO institutions.