Regional Bureaus INTERPOL Regional Bureau Abidjan

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PREAMBLE

Between 1994 and 1 May 2009, the Regional INTERPOL Bureau in Abidjan covered twenty-four (24) African countries, sixteen (16) of them in West Africa and eight (8) in Central Africa.  As part of its policy of decentralization, INTERPOL opened a new Bureau in Yaoundé to cover the Central African countries to combat crime affecting that region.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERPOL REGIONAL BUREAU IN ABIDJAN

• Location:  7th floor of the AZUR building, Avenue Dr Crozet, Le Plateau, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

BACKGROUND

• Date of creation: 1994

STAFF: 9

• 1 Head of Bureau
• 4 Regional specialized officers
• 1 Network administrator
• 1 Criminal data analyst
• 1 Accountant
• 1 Secretary

DUTIES

• Facilitate the speedy transmission of police information to the General Secretariat.
  
  
• Assess and analyse the police information of relevance to the region and provide intelligence.
  
  
• Study and provide information on the international crime trends in the region.
  
  
• Identify, study and attempt to solve problems affecting the quality of international police co-operation in the region.
  
  
• Encourage and support any initiative which will help to improve co-operation between the Member States of the region.
  
  
• Provide the Permanent Secretariat of the regional Police Chiefs Committees, i.e. the West African Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCCO).

AIMS

• Maintain and improve day-to-day police co-operation between the countries of the region and the General Secretariat.
  
  
• Help countries to prepare regional and international meetings.
  
  
• Monitor and implement the Organization's programmes in the region.

• Co-ordinate INTERPOL's activities with those carried out by other international or partner organizations in the region.

COUNTRIES REPRESENTED

Five out of the 16 West African countries - almost one third of the region's countries - are represented at the Abidjan Regional Bureau:

1. Ghana
2. Côte d’Ivoire
3. Burkina Faso
4. Guinea
5. Mauritania

The Regional Bureau is awaiting the arrival of new officers to replace those from Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, whose contracts have expired.

THE PERMANENT SECRETARIAT

The Abidjan RB serves as the permanent secretariat of the Police Chiefs Committee and co-ordinates the operational activities of the West African Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCCO).

The WAPCCO has sixteen Member States from the West African region:

• Republic of Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Republic of Cape Verde
• Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
• Republic of the Gambia
• Republic of Ghana
• Republic of Guinea
• Republic of Guinea Bissau
• Republic of Liberia
• Republic of Mali
• Islamic Republic of Mauritania
• Republic of Niger
• Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Republic of Senegal
• Republic of Sierra Leone
• Republic of Togo

STATUTORY MEETINGS

• 1st Meeting held on 20-21 March 1997 in Abuja, Nigeria
• 2nd Meeting held on 18-22 June 1998 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• 3rd Meeting held on 26- 27 September 2000 in Dakar, Senegal
• 4th Meeting held on 27-30 August 2001 in Cotonou, Benin
• 5th Meeting held on 3-7 March 2003 in Lomé, Togo
• 6th Meeting held on 20-23 September 2004 in Abuja, Nigeria
• 7th Meeting held on 14-18 November 2005 in Abuja, Nigeria
• 8th Meeting held on 21-25 August 2006 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
• 9th Meeting held on 1-5 October 2007 in Accra, Ghana
• 10th Meeting held on 24-26 November 2008 in Conakry, Guinea.