Kenya: ICITAP-EMPoWER Kicks Off Officer Training at Kenya School of Government

On April 22, 2024, the Engaging Multinational Policewomen on Equality and Rights (EMPoWER) program and the Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) program, under the Women in Security project, kicked off training at the Kenya School of Government (KSG) to wrap up the first phase of assistance for a cohort of 20 security sector officers in Kenya. The cohort, built to represent all Kenyan agencies with a counterterrorism mandate, provides a platform for collective growth and action by building synergies across the criminal justice system and developing key networks of support. The training course, titled “Executive Women Leadership Program,” is a certificate program offered to Kenyan public sector officers and a pre-cursor to a promotional course for senior managers. Through tailored revisions, the course was adapted to the context of the security sector and particularly curated to incorporate gendered perspectives and illustrate the dynamics officers face in the context of their offices and roles. Through group discussions and reflection points, cohort members note the value of the sessions in their professional leadership journeys stating that “[the training helps] build ourselves and our teams to pursue a shared vision and [understand the] legacy are we leaving behind” and that “Change needs to be institutionalized, but it first comes from us building ourselves and those around us”. Officers in leadership roles reported not receiving any training to aid in their mandates, hindering their ability to lead their teams and limiting their potentials in leading units tasked with operating in challenging operating environments. In Kenya, ICITAP works with the support of and in coordination with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and the U.S. Embassy.