NAIROBI, Kenya – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in collaboration with UN Women and the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO), delivered the Kenya-specific progress report for the Empowering Every Badge project to the National Police Service (NPS) today at Jogoo House in Nairobi.
The project, which began in June 2025, brought together 25 police women from Seychelles, Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania with the goal of providing them with critical leadership skills, operational management competence, and strategic decision-making capacities.
Douglas Kanja, the Inspector General of the NPS, was represented at the event by Eliud Lagat, the Kenya Police Service’s Deputy Inspector General.
In the Inspector General’s remarks, DIG Lagat praised UNODC as a crucial partner in areas such as training, infrastructure, and counterterrorism.
He stated that this new project, with UN Women and EAPCCO, would expand current collaborations.
He reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to fostering collaborations that improve professionalism, promote inclusivity in accordance with the constitutional one-third gender requirement, and support the NPS Strategic Plan (2023-2027). This plan prioritises gender issues and the fight against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
What does the ‘Empowering Every Badge’ project entail
Speaking at the forum, Carmen Corbin, Head of Transnational Organised Crime at the UNODC Regional Office for East Africa, emphasised that the project is part of a larger partnership that has strengthened ties between the UNODC, UN Women, and NPS.
She emphasised that the effort would increase women’s ability inside the Service, prepare them for leadership posts, and improve their abilities in combating gender-related crimes, all while boosting police-community connections.
Africa Apollo, CEO of the EAPCCO Secretariat and Head of the INTERPOL Regional Bureau, acknowledged that Kenya is the third country to receive the progress report and thanked the NPS for its ongoing collaboration and support.
Who accompanied DIG Eliud Lagat to the Nairobi event
Tina Mykannen, UN Women’s Programme Management Specialist (Gender and Security Sector), and Silvia Manyara, Assistant Project Management Officer, were also in attendance.
DIG Lagat was accompanied by senior NPS officials, including the Principal Assistant to the Inspector General, Mathew Kutoh, SAIG; the NPS Director of Training and Research, and Philip Opiyo, AIG; the NPS Staff Officer for Peace Support Operations.
Others were Albert Masese, CP; Rodgers Gathuku, SP, from the Directorate of Corporate Communications; and Alex Gitonga, ASP, from the Directorate of ICT, among other senior officers.
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