Speeches

Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent report by Saferworld Matching needs and resources: National Police Reserve and community security in Kenya’s frontiers, and whether they have had discussions with the government of Kenya about contributing to the professionalism and accountability of the National Police Reserve.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Through our High Commission in Nairobi, the British Government has regularly discussed police accountability and professionalism with the Government of Kenya, including the Kenya Police Service. This has included discussions on the role of the Kenya National Police Reserve, though we do not currently work directly with them. The UK is working with the Government of Kenya to strengthen community security in some of Kenya’s most marginalised areas. The Conflict Security and Stability Fund is working to build capacity to ensure security forces in the region are better governed, more accountable and effective and to build community resilience to respond to security challenges through work with civil society. In addition, the Department for International Development launched the £13.7million Improving Community Security programme in 2015. This programme will work with government departments and non-governmental organisations, including Saferworld, to increase the security and safety of men, women and children in Kenya through increasing the capacity of institutions including the police and county government, to prevent and respond to violence.