UN Trains First Batch Of Members Of Joint Police Unit In Disputed Sudanese Town
New York, Aug 26 2008 4:10PMThe United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have
completed the first 10-day training session of members of the new joint integrated police unit in Abyei, a town at the
centre of an area still contested after the end of the north-south civil war.
The new unit comprises 63 members of the Sudanese Government police and 105 members from the South Sudan police service
and is tasked with restoring the rule of law and ensuring Abyei’s security so that the thousands of residents who fled
the town after deadly fighting in May can safely return.
UNMIS and UNDP said in a press release issued today that, in addition to the new police unit, both the Sudanese
Government police and the South Sudan police service have agreed to deploy more members of their forces in the coming
weeks to Abyei.
An oil-rich area close to the boundary between north and south Sudan, Abyei’s status was not resolved in the 2005
comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) which ended the long-running civil war – a conflict separate to the current fighting
in western Sudan’s Darfur region.
But after the eruption of violence in May in Abyei, the Government and the former southern rebels subsequently reached a
road map agreement that called for, among other measures, the establishment and deployment of joint integrated police
units.
Under the basic training course that just ended, UN Police (UNPOL) working with the mission taught different aspects of
policing, including: crime scene investigation; human rights; democratic policing; understanding the Sudan Police Act;
and issues concerning gender and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Specialized and advanced training courses are also
being provided.
UNDP helped organize the training by procuring and delivering the tents, laptop computers, chairs, stationery and food
necessary for the course, at a cost of about $60,000.
ENDS