Training of trainers for Mauritania's armed forces and security forces

This training programme comes under the more general Support Project for Security and Development in Mauritania (PASDM – Projet d’Appui à la Sécurité et au Développement en Mauritanie) which aims to ‘contribute to the development of Mauritania by supporting the authorities in their strategy to combat terrorism and serious crime.’

The project is in line with the need for a joint response from the Mauritanian state and the European Union to address specific challenges which have been affecting the entire subregion since 2007. Mauritania as a result of its central position in the region is subject to this threat, the perpetrators of which are becoming increasingly more sophisticated in the vicinity of the country’s northern and eastern borders.

In April 2012 the Mauritanian government adopted a strategy to combat terrorism and transnational crime. The strategy is the result of a broad review conducted to define the shape of policies to be implemented to efficiently combat terrorism and related threats in all forms.

In this framework the country’s armed forces and security forces are central to the strategy to fight terrorism. Their missions are based on three courses of action: prevention, protection and intervention.

These measures and their respective aims reflect the state’s choice to include the fight against terrorism in the framework for a global vision in which security and development factors are closely linked and interdependent. Relying primarily on national resources, the strategy remains open to cooperation.

The general aim of the PASDM is therefore to respond to the Mauritanian state’s expectations in line with the cross-border and subregional strategies implemented by various partners, foremost among which is the European Union. The project’s target groups are first in line for the operational implementation of the national strategy to combat terrorism which prioritises collaboration between the different services, reactivity and adaptation to the security context.