IOM aids police to counter radicalization in slums

                          

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Uganda has donated office furniture and computers  to the counter terrorism division of the police to support efforts to prevent radicalization and violent extremism in slums. The handover of the equipment marked a start of a partenership worth 80,000 euros (sh325m.) It will be spent in three years.

The items, including desks, pedestals, cabinets, a conference table, chairs and three computers as well as their accessories, have been donated under a new three year partnership between IOM and Uganda Police through a project aimed at strengthening social cohesion and stability among slum populations in Bwaise, Kisenyi, Katwe and Kabalagala in Kampala.

According to a statement from IOM, the project is funded by the European Union (EU) through its trust fund. The pieces of furniture and computers were handed over to the head of counter terrorism intelligence and technical services, David Wasswa, by a team of IOM officials led by the project manager, Sahra Farah, at the police headquarters in Naguru, a Kampala suburb, recently. 

The director of counter terrorism, John Ndungutse, welcomed the collaboration with IOM and the initiative to build their capacity to prevent terroristic threats.

Farah hailed the warm reception and close cooperation the counter terrorism police have extended to IOM since the collaboration was mooted late last year. She said IOM looked forward to continued cooperation with police to boost social cohesion and harmony in the city slums.

At the heart of the collaboration is the desire to boost the counter terrorism police's capacity to strengthen community policing and human rights observance. The handover of the equipment paves way for the training of trainers within the counter terrorism police on community policing to adhere to international best-practices.  

About 25 officers will be trained by a team that will include an experienced international trainer, as well as officers from the Uganda Human Rights Commission, the counter terrorism and human rights divisions in the police.
"We will expect this to cascade to the community level," Farah said, "The trainers will then train their peers on how to better work with the communities."

The EU funded project is also aimed at addressing the root causes of inter-communal conflict in slum populations by tackling the sources of grievances and by strengthening community cohesion around shared development assets. This, according to the initiative, will be attained through enhancement of employment opportunities and basic local services, as well as preventing conflict in marginalized slum communities.