Training of Trainers on Planning and Organization of Terrorism Investigation Courses

5 July 2019, Islamabad - UNODC with the collaboration of the European Union is committed to enhancing the capacity of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in effective counter terrorism operation. Under the Pakistan's Action to Counter Terrorism (PACT) Project, UNODC conducted a series of trainings for selected police officials to be trained as trainers. The aim of these trainings is to not only capacitate the trainees, but also to build in them the ability to further train their respective teams, to enable a multiplier effect being achieved. In its continued efforts to improve Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police capacity, UNODC initiated the development of specialized training modules on pertinent topics related to terrorism investigation, advance investigation including of heinous crimes, and explosives handling and ordnance disposal; along with other instruction given by the expert trainers on the subject.

The finalsession of 'Training of Trainers (ToT) on Planning and Organization of Terrorism Investigation Courses' was organized from 17to 25 June 2019 in Swat, where the selected eleven trainees (of the total twenty-five candidates) attended the session. The first day began with formal opening of the session by Col Ghulam Abbas (Retd), Senior Training and Programme Coordinator UNODC: he presented the detailed working methodology and objectives of the session; following which the training roll-out plan for the next six months was shared with the participants by Mr Amanullah Khan, Programme Officer UNODC. Subsequentl y Mr Tariq Iqbal, Director Police School of Investigations, addressed the participants on the training roll-out strategy designed by the KP Police to further develop timelines on the thematic areas.

The remaining days of the training session remained focused on planning the weekly training exercises, in which the participants laid out detailed strategies and developed presentation slides on the assigned modules. These sessions were designed as mock trials for the participants, wherein they developed detailed lesson plans to be delivered as training sessions in future in the capacity of qualified trainers. The participants then presented the enabling objectives of each topic/lesson. With these duly presented lesson plans and methodologies, the panel of experts assessed each participant's abilities and skills.

On the last day of the training session Mr Iftikharuddin, Assistant Inspector General Police (AIG) Training, delivered a lecture on the strategies of rolling out effective training. He also highlighted the problems and challenges faced by the e nabled trainers at various stages of training, especially regarding sensitive subjects such as terrorism cases; and also discussed the issues and challenges faced by trainers in handling queries of the participants who may belong to diverse backgrounds.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Iftkharuddin acknowledged the initiatives taken by UNODC in collaboration with the EU, and remarked that these sessions were extremely important in the capacity building of the KP Police. The ToT session was concluded with appreciative remarks from the participants who endorsed the efforts of UNODC and the financial support extended by the European Union in making this event possible. The trainees acknowledged the fact that the sessions were assisting in enhancing their capacity for effective investigation, whereas the developed training modules were a significant tool in enhancing their knowledge: both of which would add to their operational efficacy as trainers.