Strengthening the counter-terrorism capacity of Member States in Africa, through the development of National Training Programmes and Counter Terrorism training curricula

Lead Entity/ies
United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)
Collaborating Partners
Entities within the United Nations System: Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED); United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); Department of Peace Operations (DPO); United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); United Nations Police (UNPOL); International Organization for Migration (IOM); Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC); United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).
Other partners: International Criminal Police Organization (INTRRPOL); Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); African Union and its Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism, the G5 Sahel.
Duration
April 2022 – February 2025
Location
Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo.
Approved Budget
$ 1,223,840
Description/outline
The project, under UNOCT’s Global Counter-Terrorism Investigations Programme, supported African Member States, particularly in the Sahel and West Africa, through the Rabat Programme Office. It operationalized the Rabat Training Centre, delivering 900 hours of specialized counter-terrorism training to 46 officials from 11 countries and training 40 national trainers. The Centre also hosted two high-level events with participants from over 35 Member States and partners, advancing countert-terrorism and prevention of violent extremism (CT/PVE) efforts in line with the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
Status
Completed

Synopsis

Objectives

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of Member States for an effective response of the criminal justice system against terrorism.

Components

The project’s main components include an assessment of local capacity and training needs; the development of an extended training curriculum; negotiations with universities and/or international law enforcement training institutions to establish mechanisms for accrediting all training programmes and products; the delivery of training courses and train-the-trainer sessions; and the provision of mentoring.

Main achievements

This project was implemented under the overall framework of the UNOCT Global Counter-Terrorism Investigations Programme (CTIP) and through its Programme and Training Office in Africa ("Rabat Programme Office"), which supported the development and delivery of counter-terrorism training programmes and training curricula of Member States in Africa, with an initial focus on the Sahel and West Africa.

By the end of the project, the Rabat Training Centre was fully operational. It delivered support to Member States in Africa by facilitating work across all five areas of the UNOCT mandate: leadership, coordination, capacity building, improved visibility, advocacy and resource mobilization, and ensuring appropriate consideration for CT/ PVE in line with the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The project trained 40 new Member State trainers through its Training of trainers (TOT) course which ensures that Member States have the capacity to deliver Specialist Counter Terrorism Investigations training.

The Project has delivered including 900 hours of in-person specialized training on counter-terrorism investigations to 46 officials from 11 different countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo to hone their skills and expertise in line with international best practice. To achieve this, the Rabat Training Centre partnered with CTIP to design, develop, and implement a Specialized Training Curriculum on Counterterrorism.

The project allowed the Rabat Training Centre to organize and host two High-Level Events of Heads of Counterterrorism and Security Agencies on enhancing capacity building and training for Africa in June 2022 and in June 2023, with high-level participants from more than 35 Member States and regional and international organizations.

Impact

The project helps to ensure law enforcement officers have the adequate training to conduct all aspects of investigative policing duties and investigations, crucial to the effective response of the criminal justice system against terrorism.