August 27, 2008 – ICPAT Head Hiruy Amanuel addressed the 10th Annual General Meeting of EAPCCO – the East African Police Chiefs Coordination Organization that opened in Addis Ababa on August 27. The meeting is being attended by police chiefs from 11 East African and Indian Ocean states, a high-level representative of INTERPOL and observers and guests including the Police Commissioner of Singapore. EAPCCO meets annually to discuss matters of crime and crime prevention in the region. Its last meeting was held in Bujumbura, Burundi in August 2007. The ICPAT Head, speaking on behalf of IGAD, drew attention to the peace and security mandate of the sub-regional organization and described the general directions of ICPAT. Noting that ICPAT, with the support of EAPCCO, had provided counter terrorism training to law enforcement officers separately – in Uganda, for Somalia, in Sudan and Ethiopia, he stated that 25 officers from both Djibouti and Kenya would be trained at different times in the near future. He informed participants that ICPAT would undertake shorter term training seminars following the completion of a training needs assessment that is underway, and that the Program could also see how it could assist EAPCCO’s efforts to build capacity in non IGAD member states. Director General Workineh Gebeyehu of the Ethiopian Federal Police Commission expressed appreciation for the initiatives being carried out by ICPAT, particularly in the area of training. The EAPCCO meeting was also addressed by representatives of Eastbrig, the Regional Center for Small Arms (RECSA), and the Institute for Security Studies among others. It was opened by Minister Abay Tsehaye, the National Security Advisor of the Ethiopian Prime Minister. The meeting will be concluded on August 29 following a one day plenary of ministers responsible for police affairs in EAPCCO member states.

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