IOM trains 40 border officers in Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu on integrated border management
TIENNIE, Grand Cape Mount County – About 40 border security officers from Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu counties have completed training in Integrated Border Management (IBM), organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The officers were drawn from the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA). They represent official border crossing points and key checkpoints in both counties.
The two-phase workshop was held in Tiennie from Sept. 21 to 25 and in Bopolu City, Gbarpolu County, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2. IOM organized it with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Liberia Peacebuilding Office and the LIS Training Department.
It is part of the GOLA-REAP (Resilience, Empowerment, Access and Peacebuilding) project, which IOM and the World Food Programme (WFP) are implementing across the border with funding from the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
Participants trained in interviewing, screening, communication and referral procedures. They also learned to identify cases of human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and to protect vulnerable migrants. Other sessions covered inter-agency coordination, information-sharing, human rights-based border governance and peacebuilding.
At the Tiennie opening, LIS Director of Training and Manpower Development Osborne Tate thanked IOM and the Peacebuilding Fund. He urged participants to share what they learned with colleagues at their duty stations.
Charles Cummings, LDEA commander in Porkpa District, said the training would improve operations and help officers serve communities and travelers while combating crime along the border.
Catherine Maneh, an LIS officer at the Gbarma Checkpoint in Gbarpolu, and Jackson Toe, an LNP commander in Kongbor Town, Kungba District, said the training clarified their roles and gave them practical tools for managing crossings and checkpoints.
Tamba Siaffa, IOM’s GOLA-REAP project focal person, praised participants and facilitators at the closing ceremony in Bopolu City. He asked the officers to apply what they learned and pass it on to colleagues in their institutions.
The project aims to improve coordination among security agencies and strengthen cross-border relations along the Liberia-Sierra Leone border.
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