Kathmandu, May 25:

The US will sponsor a series of workshops and training programmes for the three security wings — the Army, the Armed Police Force and the Nepal Police — this year.

A conference on security sector reform workshop, entitled “Democratic Control of the Security Forces” will be the first in the series being held in Kathmandu from May 28 to June 1.

The conference is a “follow-up” of a workshop that had been held last August-September entitled “Democratic Transition and Security Sector Reform in Nepal.” Five similar workshops are planned this year. “These workshops are part of the ongoing US security assistance to Nepal,” Sharon Hudson-Dean, the Acting Public Affairs Officer of the American Embassy, said.

She said the additional US programmes include medical training, military police training, and public affairs outreach training to the three security bodies.

Senior officers of all the security wings, representatives of political parties, except the Maoists, government bureaucrats, academics and business representatives will attend the conference.