The United States Department of State’s Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism (WMDT) has organized a five (5)-day in-person training on Foundational Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Investigations for Law Enforcement in Dakar, Senegal from 11th to 16th December 2022.
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| Mr. Denis Yegon, ICT – NACOSTI | Mr. Phelix Awuor, ICT – NACOSTI |
Participants have been selected from Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. Mr. Denis Yegon and Mr. Phelix Pire of NACOSTI, Kenya were both accepted for the training. NACOSTI plays a critical role in ensuring that all research and its related activities and outcomes are beneficial to the country and do not endanger national security, adversely affect Kenyans’ lives, or contravene Kenya’s international obligations, including CBRN among others. The Director General, NACOSTI is the National Focal point for Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) headquartered in Geneva-Switzerland.
‘Niche skill sets’
Advances in the CBRN sciences bring about wellbeing for humanity, but the same advances could be misused, particularly for the development and proliferation of CBRN weapons. ICT and physical security assets are regarded as a partner in preventing/countering the threat of terrorists acquiring and/or employing CBRN weapon of mass destruction. The Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism mission is to counter the threat of terrorists acquiring and/or using a weapon of mass destruction, WMDT works with foreign partners to establish, strengthen, and maintain their capabilities to deter, detect, defeat, and respond to terrorist attempts to acquire or use chemical, biological, radioactive, or nuclear materials.
This training aims to equip participants with the necessary investigative knowledge and skills necessary to prevent criminal and terrorist acquisition of weapons of mass destruction materials related to CBRN.