This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
On June 24, 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced a new project to support the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation's (EAPCCO) Regional Counter-Terrorism Centre of Excellence (CTCoE) in Eastern Africa.
The project, funded by Germany, aims to strengthen the CTCoE's research and analysis capacity, as well as its ability to provide capacity building to EAPCCO Member States.
According to the UNODC, the project will have three primary objectives:
- Assist the CTCoE in becoming a credible knowledge hub on violent extremism and terrorism in Eastern Africa through research initiatives, publications, and a dedicated website.
- Enhance the knowledge and skills of individual police officers seconded to the CTCoE through mentoring and learning opportunities.
- Support the CTCoE in providing advice and delivering capacity building activities to its Member States on countering violent extremism and terrorism in Eastern Africa.
The regional project seeks to fully operationalise the Centre by strengthening its research and analysis capacity and output, and by supporting it to provide bilateral and regional capacity building to EAPCCO Member States.
Terrorism continues to pose a major threat to peace, security, and development in Eastern Africa, with groups such as Al-Shabaab, the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL) in Somalia, Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), and Ansar Al Suuna in Mozambique, threatening the Member States and people across the region.
UNODC has been supporting the CTCoE since its establishment in 2018, and has provided legal and technical advice on its operationalisation.
“Regional entities have a critical role to play in preventing and countering terrorism,” said Johan Kruger, Head of Transnational Organised Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes at the UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa. “As such, UNODC commends EAPPCO for this commitment to jointly counter-terrorism in the region. We gladly support this regional initiative not only because it is founded on strong regional ownership, but also as the project is designed around actual needs identified by the Member States.”
