UNPOL plays an important role in the reform of the Congolese National Police

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Kinshasa, 30 September 2009 – MONUC Police (UNPOL), within the framework of its support to the reform of the security sector in the DRC and according to the mandate given to MONUC by the Security Council, continues to support the Congolese National Police (PNC), to reinforce its capacities through training, assistance and professional legal advice.

UNPOL is also implicated in the stabilization programme for eastern DRC, which includes the restoration of state authority, a primary element of which is the deployment of national police.

MONUC is collaborating with the PNC in the redeployment of forces on the ground in the east, and it is expected that the full complement of 6,000 policemen will be deployed in identified areas by the end of the year.

UNPOL has already assisted in the deployment of PNC elements in the Sake-Masisi and Nyamilima-Rutshuru areas, in an important contribution to the restoration of security and state authority in these eastern zones affected by armed conflict.

Another domain of UNPOL’s assistance to the PNC is support to the collection and organisation of information, as the PNC doesn't have any reliable data of the exact number of PNC elements in the country.

Last week, UNPOL and the PNC completed the first stage of a census of PNC numbers. The project, which is financed by the European Union, will in time allow the PNC to have a complete database of civil servants throughout the whole territory of the DRC.

The reform of the PNC is a process in which MONUC experts play an extremely important role in many different areas, to endow the PNC with legislative authorized texts and legal instruments that allow them to be a professional, national police that fully respects DRC law and the human rights of its citizens.

With regard to training, UNPOL’s assistance is almost permanent and is carried out at many different levels, including maintenance of law and order, as well as anti riot, traffic and judicial policing, among others.

There is a training programme underway, financed by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for 6,200 policemen in six provinces, including the provinces of Orientale, Kinshasa and Bas Congo. Another project, also in the pipeline, is for the training and deployment of more than 1,500 integrated elements of CNDP, Mai Mai and PARECO ex combatants in Goma.

In addition, MONUC is assisting on the ground with the setting up of joint patrols with the PNC, especially in the Kivu provinces. These patrols have had a very positive impact and have served to reassure local civilians.