The United States government provides the first of its kind training on counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to Ethiopians working in different security agencies.
The training involves WMD detection, interdiction and investigation training to build measurable and lasting capacity of partner nations’ law enforcement agencies from October 28 to November 01, 2019, according to the press statement from the United States embassy in Addis Addis Ababa.
Twenty-eight experts from the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), Federal Police Commission (FPC), Immigration Nationality and Vital Events Agency (INVEA), Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), Ethiopian Customs Commission, Ethiopian Radiation Protection Authority (ERPA), and the Addis Ababa City Administration Fire and Disaster and Risk Management Commission participated in the ICP training.
The training was provided through the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) – Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) International Counterproliferation Program (ICP) in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Regional Security Office (RSO), and the Office of Security Cooperation (OSC).
The participants gained an understanding of the importance of international and interagency cooperation on proliferation issues such as dual-use materials and equipment, the role of export control regimes, border security and terrorism, and increased their awareness on how these topics relate to Ethiopia.
At the opening ceremony, James Markley, the U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa Legal Attaché recognized the importance of the U.S. – Ethiopia partnership, acknowledged the hard work of the trainees and thanked them for their ongoing service to create a stable Ethiopia and Horn of Africa. He also expressed the importance for Ethiopia to develop an organic WMD capacity to include detection, interdiction, and investigation.
The statement stated that after reforms by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is playing a great role in creating stability in the Horn of Africa. The US Department of Defense is helping to strengthen Ethiopia’s capacity in the fight against terrorism and in countering the proliferation of WMD.