Sixteen Police Officers from six African countries ended a three week Regional United Nations Civilian Police Training Course in Accra last week.

The countries are Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone Speaking at the closing ceremony, Dr. Rod Pullen, British High Commissioner said Accra was chosen because of Ghana's experience and expertise in UN peace operations in Africa and elsewhere, and the strong support Ghana provides to the UN.

He said the aim of the course was to help encourage and develop more consistent standards of training for police officers prior to their deployment on peacekeeping operations. "I hope that all sixteen officers would be able to return to their own countries and pass on to as many as possible of their colleagues, skills and knowledge that they have developed over the past three weeks," he said.

He said the more police officers that benefit from the programme, the greater the impact it will have on conflict prevention and resolution.

Mr. Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, Deputy Minister for the Interior said the success of police work depends not only on appreciation of their roles but also on how they relate to the civilian population whose cooperation and support are critical.

He said for effective and efficient performance, it is important that the police have resources. "The government with the support of its various development partners is putting in place a number of programmes, which would help in developing this capacity," he said.

Mr. Asiedu said in May this year, there would be a training programme on Internal Crisis Management, which would bring together the police, military and a number of civilian institutions in addressing this issue (Internal Crisis Management). He said steps are being taken towards improving the facilities of the National Police Training School as well as other police training facilities in the country.

He said the course has established relationships with colleagues from other countries in the sub-region. "I do believe that the relationships would be maintained for the good of the police service in the various countries."

He thanked the British Government, through its Department for International Development, for funding the training course and expressed the hope that it is the beginning of better cooperation between the Ministry of Interior and the DfID.

The course, a collaborative effort between the Ghanaian and British governments, was held at the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana. It is the sixth such training course, but the first in Africa.