BUJUMBURA May 6th (ABP) – The Ministry of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security, supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), organized, on Thursday, May 5, 2022 in Bujumbura, a sensitization workshop for senior executives of the Burundi National Police on post-traumatic stress and its consequences on the mental health of police officers in order to build peace and tighten security in Burundian society.
In an interview he gave to the media, Mr. Manirambona Christophe indicated that trauma is a problem both at the level of the police and at the level of the Burundian community. He stressed that trauma is a reality in Burundian society following the events that Burundi has experienced.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police stressed that senior police officers should sensitize their subordinates to identify traumatized police officers to help them. He also pointed out that they should have focal points in the provinces and in the communes to promote peace and tighten security through sensitization, because, he explained: “There are people who know the trauma in village level, which sometimes causes insecurity to the community such as suicide, girls who give birth to children and throw them in garbage cans and men who kill their wives or vice versa, and so on.
The Resident Representative of UNDP in Burundi, Mr. Titus Osundina, indicated that the UNDP wants to contribute in the psychosocial well-being and the mental health of the members of the security corps of Burundi to ensure the country’s development-oriented peacebuilding. He also added that the UNDP wants to build the capacity of the police in order to assist the people at the village level.
Mr. Osundina took the opportunity to appreciate the efforts made by the Burundi National Police in the management of trauma and stress in the Burundian community in both rural and urban areas. He encouraged them to provide a lot of efforts to properly manage this traumatic situation.