United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan, launched the first-ever Communications and Public Outreach Strategy and inaugurated the first-ever media cell of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police

 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Directorate of Public Relations gets its first Public Outreach Strategy and Media Cell in Peshawar Peshawar, September 4, 2023: Under the European Union (EU) funded 'Deliver Justice Project' the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police and

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan, launched the first-ever Communications and Public Outreach Strategy and inaugurated the first-ever media cell of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Directorate of Public Relations at the Central Police Office (CPO) in Peshawar. The Communications and Public Outreach Strategy provides a roadmap to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Directorate of Public Relations for playing a more defined and active role in fostering police-public relations and partnerships to improve public safety and security in the province. In addition, the media cell will provide the Directorate with modern, state-of-the-art facilities to implement the Communications and Public Outreach Strategy for increased transparency and enhanced public trust in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police.

Developed by UNDP Rule of Law Programme in collaboration with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police and with support from the EU, the Communications and Public Outreach Strategy focuses on optimizing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Directorate of Public Relations' use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTS), community engagement, crisis communication, and use of analytics to monitor and improve the performance of the Directorate.

The media cell, established by the UNDP Rule of Law Programme with the EU's support, will be responsible

for:

• Implementation of the Communications and Public Outreach Strategy developed to strengthen the Directorate of Public Relations role in fostering public and police partnerships.

• Real-time media monitoring to strengthen people-centered policing.

• Correspondence with the media regarding the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police activities.

• Public dissemination of information.

• Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) especially social media to enhance community engagement.

•

The media cell will allow the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police's social media team to ensure time-efficient responses to public comments, inquiries, and information requests, swiftly forwarding them to the respective regional and district police officers for immediate action.

The presence of a more responsive Communications and Public Outreach Strategy and media cell will empower the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police towards improved transparency and citizen trust and engagement, as information is proactively shared with the public through social and electronic media. The Directorate of Public Relations, by virtue of its Public Outreach Strategy and media cell, will be able to amplify its role in enhancing access to justice and people-centered policing.

In the presence of the chief guests, Mr Akhtar Hayat Khan, Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, and Ms Chamila Hemmathagama, Programme Manager, Rule of Law Programme, UNDP Pakistan, the Communications and Public Outreach Strategy was signed off by the designated officials of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police and UNDP Pakistan as part of the launch-cum-inauguration ceremony.

Mr Akhtar Hayat Khan, Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, took this opportunity to thank the EU and UNDP Pakistan for their support. He stated, "We are hopeful that the Communications and Public Outreach Strategy and the media cell will enable the Directorate of Public Relations to create visibility of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police initiatives that aim to make the communities safer. More importantly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Directorate of Public Relations remains committed to enhancing public trust by addressing real-time public concerns and inquiries through the newly inaugurated media cell. The Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Akhtar Hayat Khan informed the UNDP team that KP police department has recently embarked upon a reform package to improve service delivery by taking a number of initiatives mainly based on technology driven policing aimed at democratizing police and making it responsive and accountable to the needs of the community. He also mentioned the steps taken for the marginalized section of the society adding that women help centres have been established in several police station. The IGP further informed that due to peculiar tradition and values of the province, better coordination and congenial atmosphere prevailed between media and KP police. He said that due to mushroom growth of media the establishment of well-equipped communication and public outreach strategy was badly needed and hoped that with the establishment of this media cell professional relations between the two will be further cemented in an effective manner and the general public will also be benefited from it at large. 

Ms Chamila Hemmathagama, Programme Manager, Rule of Law Programme, UNDP Pakistan, underlined. "Now more than ever, integrating Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in the service delivery of law enforcement has become essential to enhance equal access to justice and uphold the rule of law to foster and maintain safer communities, especially for women, transgender and other marginalized communities. Through the initiative we are inaugurating today, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Directorate of Public Relations will be well placed to drive transformative changes in the policing service in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to promote people-centered services and to better serve and protect the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa." She also thanked the EU and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police for their longstanding strategic partnership in strengthening the rule of law in Pakistan.

The "Deliver Justice programme" funded by the EU aims to support reform processes to ensure the delivery of people-centred justice, enhance access to justice for all, particularly women and less privileged groups, and improve service delivery of the security sector in line with constitutional safeguards and international standards in the Merged Districts and Balochistan. The programme is funded by the EU and jointly implemented by UNDP, UN Women, and UNODC.

The UNDP Rule of Law Programme is implementing a range of interventions to enhance security and justice sector governance in Pakistan.