Held in the district of Mueda, the training was organized under the UNDP Stabilization Programme in the North of Mozambique and in technical cooperation with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), following the first training of this type held in March 2022 for a first group of 50 police officers in Pemba.

Building the capacity of police forces is an essential element of UNDP’s stabilization work. The role of police forces is fundamental to protecting populations, social cohesion and the social contract. The training session comes as one of the complements to the already completed and other ongoing interventions of rehabilitation of police infrastructure in the 6 districts most affected by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado. The trainees were provided with knowledge of human rights and ethics to better prepare them to deliver law enforcement to returnees, IDPs and communities at large.

“We are committed to transmit our knowledge and to continue improving the work of our institution”, said a Police front-line officer from Palma delivering the joint statement to Partners at the end of the training.

Speaking during the training, the Police District Director of Ethics highlighted the importance of protecting the rights of the population in the context of armed conflict. “Officers of all ranks, from the highest to the frontline, must be prepared to respect the rights of communities, IDPs and returnees both in the districts where people are seeking for shelter and in those where they are returning to their homes”.