EAPCCO generic UN/AU police officers course

Developed for SARPCCO the course was developed by a task team convened under chairmanship of Malawi expert police trainers with previous UN experience.

The standardised generic UN Police Course (UNPOC) course curriculum, training manual and participants’ reader were originally developed for SARPCCO. The product was developed by a task team convened in February 2004 (Malawi) and June 2004 (Mozambique), followed by a pilot course in December 2004 (South Africa). Under the chairmanship of Malawi, expert police trainers with previous UN experience from Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe shared their experiences and lessons learned, and assisted with the development of the training package.

After several years of existence, and in the light of fast-changing developments in peacekeeping by the UN, the AU and the international community, the product became outdated and was in need of revision.

This particular product was adopted for use by EAPCCO after review, updating and editing by an EAPCCO task team comprising OPC3 Apollinaire Ndayimirije (Burundi), OPP3 Adelin Ntibanyiha (Burundi), ACP Noor Gabow (Kenya), Lieutenant Ridwan Hussein (Somalia), A/Supt Maxime Figaro (Seychelles), Lieutenant Commandant Muawia El Siddig (Sudan), Inspector Ally S Nyawigu (Tanzania), CP Benson Oyo Nyeko (Uganda), and RSO G J Mongi (EAPCCO Secretariat), The work of the team was facilitated by the staff of the ISS/TfP, namely Festus Aboagye, head of the programme, and Xavier Ejoyi and Andrews Atta-Asamoah, researchers at the ISS/TfP in Nairobi.

In keeping with the original idea, the training material reflects the UN’s generic guidelines developed by the UN’s Integrated Training Service (then the Training and Evaluation Service (TES)). Many of the modules continue to be based on the provisions of the UN Standardised Generic Training Modules (SGTMs), or Standard Training Module (STM) 1. The package includes some perspectives on regional peacekeeping. Thus, the value-added of the EAPCCO course and training materials will, in essence, be their regional relevance and the additional focus placed on identified requirements and needs.

Ultimately, the objective of the EAPCCO package, like the original SARPCCO UNPOC training product, is to support the ever-increasing demand for trained quality regional police for UN, AU and regional peace-support operations. The UNPOC training materials – developed for and by the region – aim to significantly improve and sustain the quality of regional police deployed, and motivate member states to increase the quantity of police currently participating in peace-support operations. It is expected that the commonalities between the EAPCCO and SARPCCO products will yield greater standardisation of peacekeeping training.