Seventy-two female officers from northern and southern Sudanese police forces as well as UN Police graduated from a 10-day course on sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) on 1 July at UNMIS headquarters in Khartoum.

According to facilitator Almero Retief, the course aimed at developing competencies needed by police officers to prevent and respond to reports of SGBV, including identifying its types and acts as well as root causes.

"Now I will be able to conduct interviews related to rape cases," said Martha Boyoy, who had been serving with the Southern Sudan Police Service for six years and graduated the course offered by the Canadian Pearson Peacekeeping Centre.

Ms. Boyoy said the training, which involved role-playing activities and other interactive tools of adult learning, equipped her to share knowledge with community members and female and male police about SGBV.

Throughout the course, participants practiced report-writing skills, community policing, problem-solving techniques, strategies for working with local and international actors to ensure proper follow-up and access to resources for victims and suspects.

Participants also developed effective mentoring and training competencies for use in supporting the Government of Sudan and Southern Sudan Police Service.

Speaking to the graduates, Deputy Police Commissioner of the joint African Union-UN Mission in Darfur Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi (UNAMID) emphasized UN Police's responsibility in sharing their knowledge with peers and informing the local population about how to respond to attacks, report cases at the police and seek medical assistance.

"We expect your coordination and cooperation with our agencies," Mr. Ogunjemilusi noted, adding that reaching out to the target population would be a challenging but necessary task.

"The course was an eye-opener ... now it's our duty to deliver," participant Cecilia Nzozo from UNAMID Police said in addressing the graduation event.