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Mobilizing Strategic Action with the Kenya Coast Guard Service 

Kenya, 31 March 2023 – In partnership with the Danish National Police (DNP), UNODC hosted an executive leadership seminar with senior managers of the Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS) to discuss the advancement of change management for enhanced maritime governance, thanks to funding from the Kingdom of Denmark.

Organized by the UNODC Global Maritime Crime Programme, the seminar was built on a prior event held in November 2022, during which KCGS’s leadership developed a draft action plan with key targets to guide the further realization of its organizational mission. On that basis, the follow-up seminar in March 2023 enabled the leaders to discuss their progress towards translating the action plan into reality and the next steps in achieving their goals. 

In so doing, Captain Sicily Gatiti, Head of Human Resources, presented some recent developments by KCGS, including a draft 5-year strategic plan with relevant regulations, the delivery of continuous training, and the completion of benchmarking across the country. In Captain Gatiti’s view, “Sustainable change requires the KCGS executive team to develop a plan, implement the desired change, and continuously communicate the results to create a culture of professionalism and teamwork. As a result, KCGS will further win the minds, hearts, and souls of the workforce.”

In identifying the next steps, the KCGS leaders collectively discussed future plans and formulated criteria for success, such as the promotion of equity and the continuous provision of training. For Ms. Lise Jensen, Police Deputy Chief of the DNP, “The seminar was a great success with impressive developments since the first seminar in 2022. The DNP is happy to continue its support for the change process with KCGS leaders.”

Following the conclusion of the seminar, UNODC met with the Director General of KCGS to present the outcomes from the seminar and agree on future areas for cooperation at the executive level, especially to draw synergies towards the operationalization of the 5-year strategic plan.

To complement the strategic support, UNODC also continues to partner with KCGS to enhance its tactical capability, having delivered more than 15 training events to KCGS officers over the past year. In those courses, KCGS officers gained operational skills to conduct drug investigations at sea, identify improvised explosive devices, and share information across agencies, among other topics. 

Looking ahead, UNODC will continue to deliver holistic support to KCGS, including at the strategic and operational levels, leading to greater capabilities to protect Kenya’s waters. 

For more information, please contact:

Mr. David O’Connell (David.OConnell@un.org)

Western Indian Ocean Programme Coordinator

Global Maritime Crime Programme

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Click here to visit the UNODC Global Maritime Crime Programme website.