Fiji’s Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho says Fiji is ready to lead and be declared the regional hub as a United Nations Police (UNPOL) regional training centre.
He said this was especially important for smaller island States that shared the same commitment in enhancing international peace and security.
Brig-Gen Qiliho made the commitment at the UN Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS) 2022 in New York, US, last week.
He said as interest grew among Pacific law enforcement for participation in UN peacekeeping missions, one of the challenges was pre-deployment training opportunities in the region.
He added that just as the Fiji had opened its doors for regional policing training and workshops in other fields of policing, “so too will we offer the same for pre-deployment peacekeeping training”.
“I want to reiterate that we as Pacific law enforcement are committed to continuing our service to humanity but we need help in doing so, and this can be best achieved by bringing the training opportunities closer to the region,” Brig-Gen Qiliho said.
“On the margins of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP) Conference, I had the opportunity to speak candidly with fellow chiefs, observers and partners, and an issue discussed at length was the need to urgently identify a regional hub for UN peacekeeping training opportunities,” he added.
Discussions were also based on how to improve the training aspects of Police peacekeepers and peacebuilders of the United Nations Police component of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
