Opening Ceremony of the Seychelles Centre for Excellence – Thursday, 21st August 2025

It is with great pleasure that I address you today on the occasion of the inauguration of the Centre of Excellence in Seychelles. To those who have travelled to join us—our friends and international partners—I extend a warm welcome to the beautiful shores of Seychelles.

The launch of this Centre represents a significant milestone in strengthening law enforcement capabilities across the Western Indian Ocean. It will equip our professionals with the essential skills needed to respond effectively to maritime threats, up to a successful legal finish. In doing so, it will enable us to collect the maximum possible intelligence and forensic evidence, allowing for a better understanding of trends, likely intentions, and the nature of various threats within the region.

This Centre demonstrates our firm commitment to implementing the Regional Drugs Strategy presented at the Ministerial Conference on Drugs on 25th April 2024, in Mauritius.

This very comprehensive document makes no qualms, about the immense effort required within the region, to tackle the drug trade. For this reason, it admits that “no country can do so on its own.” The strategy addresses narcotics trafficking from both supply and demand perspectives and allows countries to adjust their responses based on respective national capacity. However, I urge all countries to kick-start their efforts and begin sharing information with our National Centres as the Regional Drug Observatory comes into operation.

At this point, I would like to acknowledge our guests from UNODC, who have worked tirelessly to produce this document. If put into practice, through concerted efforts of all our regional partners, we will slowly gain traction against bad actors within our region. We also recognize the substantial cooperation which exists with UNODC and the support which has been provided to national agencies beyond capacity building such as in the prosecution support in the case of the suspected pirates, through the provision of translators.

I welcome the leadership of our beneficiary entities here today—all law enforcement agencies, including representatives from the Seychelles Police Force, the Seychelles Defence Forces, and border control agencies.

The systematic approach implemented through this Centre—providing training from basic levels while progressively identifying and developing a pool of regional trainers—will enhance the capacity of regional institutions to conduct in-house training at the national level.

This Centre also provides a vital platform for sharing best practices and building networks among practitioners throughout the region. This collaboration will have a lasting impact on operational coordination and information sharing.

However, we must also emphasize the critical importance of building integrity frameworks that ensure all law enforcement professionals maintain the highest standards of integrity in their daily operations, thereby preserving public support and trust. All the efforts here today will go to waste if we fail to uphold these standards. It takes only one bad apple.

In law enforcement operations, that one bad apple can place your team at risk of injury or death. Therefore, I will be asking the instructors to consider implementing a code of ethics for everyone who benefits from the training offered.

Over the past years, Seychelles has steadfastly supported the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in their capacity-building endeavours throughout the region, serving as a regional training hub. Today’s event strengthens this commitment and partnership.

Looking toward the future, I am hopeful that by providing a common training platform for all regional states, we will reinforce interoperability between law enforcement organizations in operational contexts. It is equally important that today’s launch of the Centre of Excellence be viewed as just the beginning. We encourage more partners to contribute to the development of this Centre, ensuring that comprehensive capacity building and best practices remain available throughout our region.

Seychelles will continue to stand as a reliable partner to the UNODC in its mission to improve regional capacities for effectively enforcing the rule of law, thereby creating a safe and secure region for all.

Let us move forward with determination, and a shared vision for a safer, more resilient region. May this Centre of Excellence be a beacon of collaboration, innovation, and integrity in our collective fight against transnational crime.

With great pride and optimism, I now declare the Seychelles Centre for Excellence officially open.

Thank you once again to all our partners, and especially to the UNODC and the U.S. Embassy, for your unwavering support.

Thank you.