The US has signed a Letter of Agreement with the Government for partnership on police peacekeeping.

The Ambassador of the United States to Rwanda, Erica Barks-Ruggles, and the Minister for Internal Security, Sheikh Mussa Fazil Harerimana, signed the deal on Wednesday in Kigali.

Under the agreement, the United States will provide Rwanda with training and other forms support to Rwandan National Police forces deployed to United Nations and regional peacekeeping operations around the continent, according to a statement from the embassy.

"Later this year police trainers from the United States’ International Police Peacekeeping Operations Support (IPPOS) programme will work alongside Rwandan National Police trainers and commanders to prepare Formed Police Units and individual police officers for upcoming deployments to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA),” it said.

Rwanda maintains a police and military contingents under MINUSCA.

While initial efforts for the U.S.-Rwanda police peacekeeping training partnership will focus on CAR, Rwanda has more than 600 police officers deployed to other UN missions that may also be considered for training cooperation under this agreement in the future.

The United States IPPOS programme has experience in training partner police peacekeeping units with over 5,000 police from Nepal, Jordan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, and Senegal, who have been deployed in numerous United Nations missions, including to Haiti, Liberia, Darfur, Mali, and the Central African Republic.

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