Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) will next week host the pre-deployment training for female corrections officers destined for peacekeeping operations. The training is a result of the meeting for the Group of Friends of Corrections (GFC) which convened in Kigali, last November, and selected Rwanda to host the 2014 training. GFC, currently headed by Rwanda, is an umbrella for UN International corrections service member states. The RCS Deputy Commissioner General, Mary Gahonzire, said the training will be an opportunity for Rwanda to showcase her best practices to the international community with regard to the number of female correctional officers they have, among others. “There will be a number of participants from various continents. This will give Rwanda an opportunity to showcase her best practices, as well as learn from our partners in this cause,” Gahonzire said. The general training, which was preceded by a training of trainers that started on Monday, will be held at Rwanda Peace Academy in Musanze District. According to Gahonzire, besides Rwanda, participants will also be drawn from Sweden, Canada, Finland, Thailand, Norway Jordan, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, and Burkina Faso. “The training aims at increasing the number of female correctional officers in international peacekeeping operations,” said Gahonzire, adding that those to be trained will be deployed by their respective countries to different peacekeeping missions. Rwanda is also hosting the training by virtue of her being the chair of Troika, a UN-backed body that provides correctional personnel to peacekeeping missions. Troika consists of three countries; Sweden, Rwanda and Canada.
