MINGORA/ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on information and public relations Mushtaq Ghani on Monday inaugurated a women’s dormitory with childcare facilities at the Regional Police Training Centre in Swat for under-training women police officers. The 14-bed dormitory has been completed at a cost of Rs8.3 million with the cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

UNDP Resident Representative Neil Buhne, European Union’s Ambassador to Pakistan Jean Francois Cautain and some senior police officers attended the inauguration ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ghani said that the facility would provide peaceful atmosphere to women trainees.

The adviser appreciated the UNDP’s strengthening rule of law project in KP under which valuable support has been provided in the fields of judiciary and courts, police, prosecution and prisons, legal aid, alternate dispute resolution mechanism, etc.

“KP police are equipped with modern scientific investigation equipment and training due to which they are not only effectively playing the role of a peace keeping force, but also fighting the menace of terrorism,” Mr Ghani said.

The UNDP representative and the EU ambassador assured their cooperation in the social sectors.

Mr Buhne said that the donors-funded facility would help improve performance of the KP police.

It was important to have women contingent in the UN police to deal with special situations, he said, and hoped that Pakistani women police officers would be part of UN missions in near future.

“The UNDP envisions more women joining the KP police and the number of women police officers increasing day by day. The establishment of the training centre, women dormitory and childcare centre and the women police trainers are all efforts towards gender-responsive policing and encouraging young girls and women to join the police force.”

Mr Cautain said that since there was a peaceful situation, the valley needed vast development of infrastructure. Among the priority areas should be health and education and the rule of law.

The adviser thanked friendly donors for their valuable cooperation. He formally inaugurated the day care centre by planting a sapling.

Published in Dawn November 29th, 2016