in order to increase the UK's and international community's ability to access Somaliland, the UK is providing training to the Somaliland Special Protection Unit (SPU), a branch of the police force. The UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) personnel will focus the training on 450 police officers and will implement the training in three phases. Phase one, beginning in March 2010, will train approximately 40 officers in Ethiopia for five weeks. Phase two will provide follow-on train-the-trainer training to the 20 best officers from phase one, also in Ethiopia. Phase three, dependent on the security situation at the time in Somaliland, will be conducted in Somaliland; UK MOD personnel will oversee and mentor the Somaliland trainers as they run training for the larger SPU police officer corps. Financing for the current fiscal year is approximately GBP 375,000 (USD 600,000) and for next year is GBP 230,000 (USD 368,000). FCO Counter Terrorism Department Desk Officer Ben Myers explained that the SPU was selected because they have a generally decent level of basic skills and good reputation and to allow for increased access to Somaliland for British diplomats and other members of the international community. Myers said encouraging increased international community presence on the ground for diplomatic engagement and development assistance delivery is a key objective of the training.
And coast police
The program is funded by the UK Department of International Development (DFID) for GBP 400,000 (USD 640,000), which is possible because the Somaliland Coast Guard is a civilian agency. The UK's support, which recently sent approximate ten individuals to a training facility in Yemen.
