Democratic Republic of the Congo - To promote better relations between the police and population in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), IOM has initiated a community policing program in Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Oriental province, and Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga province. The project is supported by the USA and Canada.

In Mbuji-Mayi, 400 officers from the Community Policing Police and 50 from the Mining Police will attend a five-month training at the police training school at the Domaine agroindustriel présidentiel de la N'sele in Dibindi commune from 29 March 2016 to 28 August 2016.

The training will be complemented with the construction of a police station and four sub-stations in Bipemba, which began in mid-March.

The program will also promote Local Councils for Security Proximity (CLSP) to improve relations between the police and the community. Workshops were organized on 22 and 23 March 2016 on community security in the communes of Muya and Bipemba to present the mandate of the CLSPs and their relationship with district forums.

The CLSPs, established in 2013, are responsible for collecting security information from district forums and provide a framework for dialogue between the public and representatives of civil society to find solutions to security issues.

A similar program is being implemented in Lubumbashi with the construction of a police station and four sub-stations in the commune of Kampemba. It will be complemented with a capacity building program of 400 police officers in April 2016.

The first session will last six months and will train 279 officers on community policing, 50 on border policing and 50 on mining policing. Another 279 trainees will also attend community policing training for a period of six months.

Training sessions for 40 trainers from Community, Mining and Border Police were held from 14 to 26 March 2016 at the Police Academy of Kassapa in Lubumbashi. Training of Border Police is being implemented in close cooperation with the General Directorate of Migration.

The activities are part of an IOM program funded by the United States through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the Canadian government with the aim of strengthening security in Mbuji Mayi and Lubumbashi and improving relations between the police and the population.

For further information, please contact Damien Callamand at IOM DRC, Tel: +243 822 593 599, Email: dcallamand@iom.int