Within the framework of the cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) the ninth, four-day annual conference-“Women in Policing” is traditionally held in Georgia.

At the opening ceremony of the conference, Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Vakhtang Gomelauri addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.

“To begin with, I would like to express my gratitude towards the Embassy of the United States to Georgia, Madam Ambassador as well as leadership and the representatives of Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. International conference -“Women in Policing” is being held today under their initiative, with more than 300 guests. We have also introduced our female representatives and police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I would like to wish them success and outline that beginning from 2013 and up to date, the number of female police officers within the Ministry of Internal Affairs has increased and I hope that this tendency will further continue”, - said Vakhtang Gomelauri.

Guests of the conference were also addressed by the US Ambassador, Kelly Degnan and head of the local office of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs - Rebecca Hunt.

“I am delighted to be part of opening the ninth annual –“Women in Policing” workshop here in Tbilisi. Its designed to inspire and educate female police officers and help further develop their professional skills. I think, we all know that female police officers are critical to developing sustainable security and peace, and while its encouraging to see their numbers increasing in police forces around the world, they still encounter barriers to promotion and in assignments and we have these same problems in the United States too, so we brought together international experts from Canada, Europe and the United States to lead courses this week at this workshop. We are particularly grateful to Georgia for hosting this workshop once again. It’s another sign that the government of Georgia is leading the way in supporting female police officers and improving security and peace around the world”, - stated Kelly Degnan.

The event is attended by the female representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and their foreign colleagues from 11 countries.

The participants of the annual conference paid one – minute tribute to the memory of the female police officers who died in the line of duty.

The International Conference is aimed at raising the qualification of female law enforcers, their motivation and highlights women"s role in police. Within the frames of the conference, by means of practical exercises, female police officers will improve the skills necessary for effective work and share experiences with each other.