Training Security Forces on Children’s Rights
Photo: IBCR
Project Duration : 2012 - 2013
In 2002, Nigeria took part in the regional workshop organised by the IBCR in Lomé. The Nigerian government wanted to find out more about the progress made in other African sub-region countries with respect to building the capacities of its security forces for the protection of children’s rights. In 2012, Nigeria established a partnership with Switzerland to produce a training manual for Nigerian police schools and academies. In September 2012, a preliminary version of the Nigeria Police Force Human Rights Training Manual was created. It then became necessary to add training specifically focused on child protection to the curriculum for the country’s security forces. Therefore, the following year, UNICEF Nigeria and the IBCR began working on a new section dedicated to children’s rights to be added to the manual.
Our goals :
The goal of the project was to include a course on children’s rights in the regular curriculum of Nigeria’s security forces. Although Nigeria has only one federal police force, there are notable differences within each state’s police departments in terms of resources, legal framework and availability of civil society partners. It was therefore essential to take into account local specificities when developing the training. This is why the IBCR, with active support from the Nigerian police force, carried out two missions in four different regions in 2013. This fieldwork enabled us to gather the information needed to properly assess the training needs for security forces, especially for those units specialising in child protection and human trafficking.
The IBCR met with several representatives from police academies and schools, social workers, staff from approximately 20 NGOs, traditional chiefs and about 30 children. The various interviews conducted for this project enabled the production of a chapter dedicated to the protection of children’s rights to be included in the Nigeria Police Force Human Rights Training Manual. Another manual was also produced to support the instructors who would be giving this training.
- Intervention locations : Nigeria
- Project duration: 2012-2013
- Partners :
- Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Police, Department of Criminal Investigation, Human Trafficking coalition, Ministry of Women and Social Development, Nigerian Commission on Human Rights, the Swiss embassy, UN Women, UNICEF, ONUDC, Lawyers without Borders, Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA)
- Highlights:
- Meetings with over 60 staff members from police academies and schools
- Meetings and group interviews with 78 members of police agencies
- Interviews with 30 children placed in reformatory or remand homes for minors
- Fields of activity and expertise :
- Applied research
- Tools, reference manuals and standards
- Children and the justice system
