Training And Human Resource Development
 

The ultimate effect of this programme focuses on upgrading of skills, through research, dissemination of knowledge and consolidation of the base of expertise among crime prevention and criminal justice personnel in the Africa region. Due to limitations of logistical and financial support, priority is accorded to trainers as a basis for the anticipated multiplier effect.
 

Based on the needs of the member States, training materials and modules are designed for short courses with emphasis on interdisciplinary discourse to meet specific requirements. Efforts are made to undertake innovative practical measures that maximize the value of locally available knowledge/data for use in enhancing crime prevention and sustaining the criminal justice agenda in Africa in response to the daunting challenges crime imposes on the development in each of the countries.
 

Some of the factors that guide the choice of themes for the training seminars/workshops include the needs of Member States; the priority areas as decided by the United Nations Congresses on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice as well as emerging demands borne out of expediency in the execution of crime prevention and criminal justice chores by the relevant authorities.

The Institute has since its establishment impacted upon a cross-section of appropriate levels of personnel from the civil service as well as public and civil society organizations. A spectrum of crime trends ranging from juvenile delinquency to sophisticated Transnational Organised Crime has been addressed in the workshops/seminars that have been conducted by the Institute. Lately, issues relating to contemporary strategies for crime prevention; anti-human trafficking; criminalistics science in enhancing the criminal justice administration as well as prospects for parole and probation to ease the challenges faced by correctional institutions and precautionary awareness raising against cyber crime have been addressed. The reports to these activities can be obtained on request.
 

Because crime has continued to affect all sectors of life, there is a growing consensus about the realization that sustainable socio-economic development needs to be guarded effectively against the disrupting effect of crime. This has led to a renewed impetus in the search for effective strategies and tailored remedial measures to curb the prevalence of crime in the African countries.
 

The engine for this realization has focused on the essential requirement based on training and upgrading of skills, awareness raising and constant dissemination/exchange of information among all the concerned parties including the local communities, law enforcement agencies, media operatives, entrepreneurs, experts and judicial authorities. Consequently, the urge to invest and the propensity to seek current/contemporary facts about the trends of crime in an effort to form empirical body of knowledge to guide policy development and legislative frameworks to fight crime are receiving priority attention. In this respect, training has occasionally derived impetus from the preceding research and policy development sub-programmes that establish the details of the need for training as appropriate.

Owing to the challenges of limited financial resources, the Institute has through professional collaboration with sister agencies been able to source the necessary expertise and technical assistance to implement the vital components of the training. In this respect, UNODC together with all members of the United Nations Programme Network of Institutes (UNPNI) have made significant contributions towards the implementation of this programme. In a continuing effort, the Institute is contacting Member States and non-government organisations with a view to enter bilateral arrangements to further the training of personnel in accordance with the identified need.