How has the ENM been involved in this project since 2017 and what is at stake?

"The creation of the International Counter-Terrorism Academy, the AILCT, was born of a joint French-Ivorian initiative taken by Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Alassane Ouattara at the 2017 Pau summit.

The aim is to develop the capacity of the States in the region to provide a comprehensive response to the terrorist threat that is developing there. For example, six armed attacks have been recorded in the Ivory Coast since June 2020.

What is at stake is the need to facilitate exchanges and encourage joint working practices between French judges, prosecutors and investigators and their African counterparts, particularly in terms of mutual assistance in criminal matters. More widely, it is also about promoting French methods and expertise in the counter-terrorism field.

The ENM has been involved in this project from the outset, providing support on the judicial training side.

The School contributed, along with the Directorate for Cooperation in Security and Defence (DCSD) of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, to the organisation of a kick-off conference in Abidjan attended by over 300 delegates from 35 countries in November 2018. We also developed and participated in the running of 5 courses on the management of the terrorism crisis between 2019 and 2021. A new course on the judicial treatment of terrorism has just been organised in 2021 with the participation of the National Anti-terrorism Prosecution Service (PNAT)."

What are the particularities of this project?

"The International Counter-Terrorism Academy is the fruit of an inter-ministerial initiative. The project is led by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, in conjunction with the Ministry of the Interior, the Armed Forces Ministry and the Ministry of Justice, with the practical side being delegated to European and International Affairs.

This interministerial dimension also applies to our Ivorian partners and the professionals that it is intended to train: they include all the actors involved in counter-terrorism with the aim of enabling them to better coordinate their respective actions.

This approach based on developing the sharing of professional practices between judges and prosecutors and their partners is the same as the approach we take in at national level in our in-service training. It is what led, in 2018, to the creation of the PACT advanced counter-terrorism programme, which broadly aims to bring together different viewpoints so that they can be shared among all the different counter-terrorism actors.

This project also has an important regional dimension: the training courses and sessions delivered by the Academy are open to all the countries in West Africa and the Sahel region. The idea is to allow the development of smoother cooperation between the African States confronted with terrorist attacks, mainly in border areas.

The wider ambition is to contribute, through training, to the emergence of a judicial community and a common working culture in the counter-terrorism field in Africa."

What steps come next? What are the prospects for the future?

"The inauguration of the Academy took place on 10 June last. So far the project has mainly been funded by France end the Ivory Coast. The funds allocated have already allowed the construction of new facilities in a particularly suitable location. This has, for example, enabled us to reconstitute a hotel where the RAID and the GIGN can train tactical intervention units.

We are now awaiting the participation of new financial backers in order to finalise the scheme and give the Academy other innovative tools. Australia, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States have all expressed an interest.

The ENM, for its part, will continue to organise training for the region's judges and prosecutors on topics that will be adapted to the specific training needs that are identified. The reason for the existence of this regional Academy, where French judges and prosecutors mobilised by the ENM will be able to contribute in a training role, will also allow French expertise to be concentrated in one place, where it can address a broad audience of judges and prosecutors from across the region at the same time.

In addition to training, we will also be making available the international department's know-how in the technical assistance field in order to help develop the structure itself to guarantee its organisation and operation in the long term. The aim is to enable it to become an autonomous and important player in judicial training at regional level on this sensitive subject."

The inauguration of the International Counterterrorism Academy