– The Congolese National Police (PNC) in South Kivu, in partnership with the United Nations Police (UNPOL) component of MONUSCO, presented certificates to 183 police officers as they completed their community policing training.

It is with the primary aim of reinforcing the professional and operational capacities of PNC personnel to enable them to respond to the population’s security needs that these 183 PNC officers, including 11 women, were trained for six months on the concept of community policing.

PNC and UNPOL trainers delivered courses to the participants on a range of professional areas including the Organization of the PNC, military criminal law and procedure, general criminal law, while MONUSCO’s substantive sections provided courses on human rights, child protection, sexual violence and HIV/AIDS.

This class, consisting of 183 police officers, is the third of its kind, after 228 elements from the first class were deployed in the municipality of Ibanda in 2012 and 243 elements from the second class were deployed in the municipality of Kadutu in 2013.

The 183 elements of this class will be deployed in the municipality of Bagira, where they are expected to operate as a police force that is respectful of human rights and that is a partner of the population in the prevention and resolution of security problems.

The three training sessions, benefitting 664 PNC police officers in South Kivu province alone, were financed by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) in the context of the “Community Policing” project.

Tahina Andriamamonjitianasoa/MONUSCO