United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix has today (Monday, 3 August) welcomed 50 Pacific and Timor Leste police officers to the AFP's Pinkenba Hub, where they will be trained as mission-ready UN Police Peacekeepers in five weeks.
USG Lacroix joined AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and UN Police Adviser Faisal Shahkar at Pinkenba to officially launch the second training course being delivered by the AFP and specifically tailored to the Pacific.
It will involve the 50 officers - plus four members of the AFP - studying subjects including the principles of UN Peacekeeping, child protection, sexual exploitation and abuse, intelligence-led policing and reporting, human rights due diligence policy, and police command in a UN context.
The officers are from Tonga, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Naoero, Timor Leste, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Kiribati. The training cohort has been drawn from across the world.
The AFP developed the UN Police Peacekeeping residential program - hailed as a model for future sustainability - in conjunction with the UN and at the specific request of Pacific police chiefs, who have been vocal in their desire for a Pacific-led UN peacekeeping capability.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett told this month's United Nations Chief of Police Summit (UNCOPS) in New York the course offered a new fit-for-purpose training model that was faster, more agile and more specialised than legacy programs.
"Amid ongoing conversations about the sustainability of UN Police Peacekeeping, Australia was asked by the UN to see if we could create a more sustainable model," Commissioner Barrett said.
"We answered that call, and UN trainers from the AFP, the Pacific and around the globe produced a leaner, more agile training program, which was reduced from months to five weeks.
"In just five weeks, they were mission ready."
USG Lacroix said Australia's commitment demonstrated not only strong support for United Nations peace operations, but also confidence in the vital role police played in maintaining international peace and security.
"Today's United Nations Police are increasingly called upon to operate in highly complex environments marked by transnational organised crime, terrorism, environmental crime, cyber-enabled threats, community violence and fragile political transitions," USG Lacroix said.
"At the same time, missions are expected to deliver more agile, specialised and integrated responses while operating with finite resources.
"This changing landscape requires police officers who possess not only technical competence, but also sound judgement, integrity, adaptability and leadership.
"United Nations policing has become an indispensable component of our efforts to prevent conflict, protect civilians, strengthen national institutions and sustain peace.
"Whether mentoring host-state police services, supporting security sector reform, assisting criminal investigations or protecting vulnerable communities, the United Nations Police make tangible differences in the lives of millions of people around the world every day."
With a 73 per cent pass rate and more than 40 per cent female representation, the first AFP-delivered UN Police Peacekeeping course - held in 2025 - has already answered Pacific ambitions, with some graduates deployed to South Sudan.
It has also laid the foundation for an ongoing training program that will include a third course in early 2027, with a separate program focused on the training and certification of trainers planned for later this year.
During their training, UN course attendees will live at Pinkenba alongside members of the Pacific Police Support Group (PPSG), a multinational deployment group designed to support major events and crisis response in the Pacific region.
The PPSG will deploy in late August to support the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting, which is being held in Palau from August 30 to September 4.
