Australia has taken a landmark step in supporting international peace and security through the launch of the world's first UN Police Peacekeeping Training course tailored specifically for the Pacific region.
The five-week program, hosted by the AFP, has started this week at the state-of-the-art Pacific Policing Development and Coordination Hub in Pinkenba, Brisbane.
Developed in partnership with the United Nations, the course brings together 100 police officers from across the Pacific and Timor-Leste and marks the beginning of a bold vision to build a deployable, Pacific-led UN peacekeeping capability.
AFP Deputy Commissioner Lesa Gale said the program was the result of a long-standing, productive relationship between Australia and the United Nations, and was launched in response to growing regional ambitions to contribute more actively to international peacekeeping efforts.
"In 2024, the Pacific Island Chiefs of Police reaffirmed the importance of United Nations Peacekeeping Mission deployments and expressed a desire for regional capabilities to be world leading in their ability to respond and deploy as required," Deputy Commissioner Gale said.
"Building off the AFP's long-standing association with the United Nations and peacekeeping efforts, the inaugural course will significantly advance those ambitions, giving Pacific member nations a meaningful role internationally in helping to shepherd nations from conflict to peace.
"It also provides a powerful stage to amplify the region's collective approach to policing and draw global attention to collaborations such as the Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI), which is a Pacific-led and Australian-backed initiative to strengthen peace and security."
The Pinkenba hub, which was developed to support the PPI, includes accommodation for the participants, who will wrap up their five weeks of training with a final assessment. Coursework is split between practical focuses such as driving and road safety, and classroom-based topics including child protection, and sexual exploitation and abuse.
The international reach of the initiative is reflected in its diverse training faculty, including Türkiye, Jordan, Fiji, Uganda, Ghana, Italy, Nepal and Argentina, as well as the AFP, Fiji Police Force and Australian Defence Force. Dignitaries from around the world, including UN Police Adviser Faisal Shahkar, will attend the closing ceremony to mark this milestone achievement.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan said the UN Peacekeeping capability aligned with the evolution and growth of the collaborative approach to regional policing.
"It's reinforcement of Australia's role as a preferred partner of choice in the Pacific for sustained peace, security and prosperity in the region," he said.
Participating nations, alongside the AFP, are Samoa, Kiribati, Fiji, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Tuvalu, Federated States of Micronesia and Nauru.
The UN Police Peacekeeping Training course is a proud demonstration of how international cooperation and shared regional aspirations can deliver a lasting, global impact; from the Pacific to the world.
