Visiting UN Police chief pledges support for Liberia’s crime prevention campaign

Meeting with Liberia’s President and other senior officials, the United Nations top police official has stressed the world body’s continued support for the Government’s anti-crime efforts, while acknowledging that much work still needs to be done in the West African nation.

UN Police Adviser Andrew Hughes, who wrapped up a four-day visit to Liberia at the weekend, also accompanied Liberia National Police (LNP) and UN Police (UNPOL) officers on a night-time anti-crime patrol around the capital Monrovia.

“I know there is a great deal of work ahead. And I pledge our support for the work of UNPOL here in Liberia,” said Mr. Hughes during the night patrol. Earlier, he visited the capital’s Central Prison, where he met with Corrections Officers and spoke with inmates.

His discussions with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and senior Government officials, as well as with top officers of the LNP, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Alan Doss, and other senior UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) representatives, focused on how to strengthen the Government’s crime prevention campaign.

During his trip, Mr. Hughes also reviewed progress being made by the police and rule of law components of UNMIL and discussed the challenges ahead, as well as assessing the assistance that may be required from UN Headquarters in New York for the full implementation of UNMIL’s mandate in these areas.

This visit was part of a four-nation tour for the Police Adviser, which included trips to the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL), and the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Police Division now falls under the new Office of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions. This new structure is part of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s wider reform of peacekeeping, developed in response to the growing global need for peacekeeping operations. The Office also comprises the Criminal Law and Judicial Advisory Section, the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Section, the Security Sector Reform Section and the Mine Action Service.