In this field, AAAJD caries forward the work of the Altus Global Alliance of which the two member organizations CLEEN and IDC were founding members. Within police reforms, there is a thrust to make police stations citizen-centered. It supports local innovations for improved service delivery, building trust and cooperation of security agencies with the local community based on global policing and justice standards. It seeks to sustain and integrate locally-appropriate reforms that are owned by the local people and respond to the needs of all citizens within the changing socio-political dynamics and population groups. A focus is to advance the empowerment of people on the margins and strengthening institutional accountability of the police to the poor and vulnerable.
AAAJD seeks to structure processes from within the security systems to build local capacities engaging with community stakeholders, incorporating monitoring and oversight mechanisms through processes of innovation and learning.
The discourse on police reforms in Nigeria continues to progress with the Nigeria Police Force as a focus having been severally and severely criticised for gross violations of human rights, impunity and lack of accountability by its personnel. Weak internal and external oversight by agencies responsible and ineffective service delivery further compound the problems and reaffirms the continued call for repositioning police to deliver the art of policing in Nigeria. To contribute to police reform efforts and changing the status quo, CLEEN continues to design programs and interventions aimed at building the institutional and individual capacities of the NPF for effective service delivery, improving the accountability and professionalism of the police personnel and also building public trust in the police. CLEEN Foundation has pioneered projects and programs that have improved police-community partnerships, provided accountability platforms to create space for meaningful dialogue as well as enable feedback on public complaints about the police. These efforts have contributed to gradually changing citizens’ mindsets about the police, moving from the hostility that characterized the military era to improved relations that have strengthened internal and external accountability mechanisms to hold police officers accountable.
Reference
Cleen Foundation – https://cleen.org/projects/