The Rule Of Law and Security (ROLS) 2010 project achievements

UNDP made a big contribution in the promotion of law and security in Somalia in 2010. Among the contribution was the training and equipping of the police in Somaliland which resulted in peaceful campaigns and democratic elections.   In April, UNDP facilitated a National Convention on Police Reform as a Phase 1 of the Police Reform Program, where a National Police Charter was developed. This was followed by the establishment of the Reform Units at the Ministry of Interior and Police HQ. In September 2010, in partnership with the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF), UNDP facilitated 12 members of south central Somalia’s Police Advisory Committee (PAC) to participate in a one-week training course on international and regional common standards for best practices for human rights based policing in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The training was organized by the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) in conjunction with the University of Pretoria’s Human Rights Department and the Centre for Conflict Resolution. In the same year, 493 new Somali Police Force (SPF) recruits, including 15 women, from Mogadishu graduated in June following a three month course at Armo Police Academy. They were joined by 76 colleagues from Puntland Police. This training focused on the criminal procedure code, penal code, basic traffic offences and police discipline. In addition, 60 Transitional Federal Government (TFG) mid rank police officers were trained in Kampala, Uganda between October and December on management. Among them were 6 women. The Puntland Police concluded a Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D) course in December. Under the Armed Violence Reduction Project, UNDP conducted a baseline assessment in January on the needs of the civilian police, access to justice and the community safety in Burao and Galkacyo. In June, UNDP piloted a series of systematic focus group discussions in Burao, Las Canood, Bosasso and Galkayo with youth, women, clan elders, IDPs, local authorities, police and religious leaders to identify the nature and causes of violence as well the root causes and drivers of conflict at the district level. The findings guided the development of a Community Safety Plan. Generally, the quality of justice dispensed improved across Somalia in 2010. The case management system in Hargeisa attests.  Cases were forwarded to Hargeisa District Court.  Courts registered 6500 cases in 2010 compared to 500 in 2008 due to UNDP’s capacity building efforts. Furthermore, 54 male and 33 females graduated in September from the Faculty of Law at the University of Hargeisa. Eleven males and fourteen females in this group benefited from a UNDP scholarship.