Afghan president attends graduation

NZ Police Inspector Marty Edghill was among those who welcomed President Hamid Karzai to a graduation ceremony at the Bamyan Regional Police Training Centre (BRPTC) in Afghanistan last month...



Marty is the senior training adviser at the centre. He and another NZ Police officer, Senior Sergeant Wally Kopae are part of the International Police Training Programme being run at the BRPTC. The graduation saw 41 students complete a five-week Basic Police Officer Course – the second to be delivered at the BRPTC so far.

Marty says the course was designed to help Bamyan Province improve its policing service so that officers could help foster Afghanistan's emerging civil society. The course content included training in internationally-accepted democratic policing principles and human rights.

"It was an honour for both the trainers and the students to have President Karzai attend the graduation and show his support for what we are achieving," says Marty.

In total, nearly 290 students have trained at the BRPTC since it opened in September 2004 with most learning the basic literacy skills necessary for further police training.

Marty's and Wally's nine-month secondment is funded by New Zealand's international aid and development agency, NZAID.