Rwanda’s Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Administration and Personnel, DIGP Jeanne Chantal Ujeneza, has urged police officers attending a regional training programme to apply their knowledge to improve public satisfaction with security services.
She made the remarks on October 19 while officially opening a five-day Training of Trainers (ToT) programme aimed at promoting gender-responsive law enforcement.
The training brings together police officers and other law enforcement personnel from 10 member countries of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO): Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda, which is hosting the programme.
The participants are being trained to use and assess a manual on gender-responsive law enforcement, alongside a separate guide designed to help them train their colleagues.
The publications were developed under the Supporting Every Step of the Way initiative, implemented in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women, with support from the German government.
Ujeneza urged participants to take the knowledge and skills they acquire back to their respective institutions, share them with colleagues and advocate for the manuals to be incorporated into police training programmes in their countries.
“Training of trainers means transforming the knowledge you personally possess into institutional capacity by equipping you with the knowledge, skills and methods to train your colleagues in your countries on gender equality, gender-responsive service delivery, and the protection of every person’s rights and dignity,” she said.
She added that the programme’s success would be measured by public satisfaction with security services and officers’ ability to identify, prevent and investigate gender-based violence and related issues, while ensuring that victims receive appropriate support.
Apollo S. Africa, EAPCCO’s Executive Secretary and head of Interpol’s Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa, said the training was necessary to test the manuals before they are rolled out more widely across member countries.
“We realised that the manual alone was not enough, because it needed to be explained by police officers who had not been involved in writing it,” he said.
He explained that this led to the development of a separate training guide to help instructors deliver the material effectively.
Africa urged participants to provide honest feedback on how the manuals could be adapted to reflect the circumstances and needs of individual countries.
