Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police launches first-ever policing plans for seven newly merged districts.

ISLAMABAD -- The UNDP, Government of Japan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police launched the first-ever Policing Plans for the newly merged districts of Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Kurram at a ceremony held here on Thursday.

The overall objective of the Policing Plans is to put in place a road map for the smooth transition of post - merger local policing to the formal policing and justice system in the newly merged districts. The plans also present a context specific framework for better delivery of people-centered policing services to the public through collaborative partnerships with local communities and other agencies of the criminal justice system.

Furthermore, the Policing Plans also propose recommendations to federal, provincial, and district level decision makers in addressing resource and capacity gaps, said a press release issued by the embassy of Japan here on Friday.

The initiative to develop Policing Plans for newly merged districts was jointly implemented by the KP Police and UNDP with generous funding from the Government of Japan under auspices of the project 'Strengthening Rule of Law for Peace building in the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The project also involves infrastructure development support to build five new police stations in Bajaur, Mohmand, North Waziristan and Kurram, and train 278 former Levies and Khasadars who were recently integrated into the KP Police. The training involves both basic and training the trainers (ToT) courses. A total of 22 master trainer of the KP Police have already undergone training to lead the delivery of basic training roll-out from August 2022.

The launch event highlighted the importance of international partner support and joint partnerships with KP Police to foster people - centered policing in the newly merged districts. These efforts are crucial to restore public security services, rule of law, sustainable peace and development in the region.

WADA Mitsuhiro, Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan thanked UNDP and KP Police for their pioneering efforts to strengthen policing in the merged districts. 'Improving the local police...