UNICRI, with the support of the UAE Ministry of Interior, delivers regional training on AI and related technologies to law enforcement from Madagascar and 16 countries across[...]

On 19-21 May 2026, under the AI for Safer Children initiative, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), through its Centre for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, and the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) conducted a hybrid, regional training in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Organized in parallel with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Antananarivo and simultaneous interpreted into French and Malagasy, this training brought together 30 law enforcement officials from Madagascar's police and gendarmerie and Mauritius cybercrime units, as well as over 140 online investigators from Kenya, The Gambia, United Arab Emirates, Maldives, Guinea, Gabon, Benin, Senegal, Nigeria, Eswatini, Togo, Chad, Mali, Ghana, and Tunisia.

During the three-day event, participants explored the capabilities of various AI-based tools and techniques to facilitate each step of the investigative workflow, from triaging reports to evidence linkage and protecting officer wellbeing. They benefited from presentations delivered by numerous guest experts and technology providers, including representatives from the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the Global Emancipation Network (GEN), Katalyst from Kindred Tech, Thorn, Magnet Forensics, BFIP, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, and Paliscope.

Participants explained how investigations are conducted in Madagascar in terms of prioritizing the 10-20 reports of child abuse per day alongside other cybercrimes for which units are simultaneously responsible, and carried out practical hands-on exercises during the training illustrating how simple AI techniques can facilitate the processing of CyberTips and extract information from files.

"Thanks to the new skills and technologies I have acquired," a participant from the National Centre for Digital Investigations (CNIN) in Benin said, "I am convinced that investigations will now be conducted with greater efficiency and professionalism. Thank you for this wonderful initiative."

Extraction, hashing, and classification tools were of particular interest to investigators and were all covered during the training. As the Head of UNICRI's Centre for AI and Robotics, Irakli Beridze, underlined: "The agenda is designed to be practical, operational, and directly relevant to the daily work of investigators. The goal is not technology for its own sake. The goal is impact: to help investigators work faster, manage overwhelming volumes of digital evidence, identify victims, support prosecutions, and ultimately rescue and protect children. At the same time, AI must be used responsibly. It must support human judgement, not replace it. It must be applied with respect for human rights, due process, privacy, evidence integrity and accountability."

AI is especially crucial in addressing the growing volume of child sexual abuse material, though a lack of awareness that tools designed specifically for this field exist, combined with assumptions that such tools are prohibitively expensive, prevents many law enforcement agencies from exploring the options.

There are currently many accessible AI tools and technology providers eager to collaborate with law enforcement agencies, and the AI for Safer Children initiative aims to bridge this gap through its online platform, the AI for Safer Children Global Hub. This platform serves as a centralized resource for law enforcement to access information about over 100 cutting-edge AI tools, regardless of their level of technical expertise or prior experience with such technologies. By participating in the training, investigators can learn how to effectively utilise the presented tools. The Global Hub also provides guidance on the ethical and responsible implementation of AI in investigations related to child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The AI for Safer Children Global Hub fosters international collaboration and information-sharing and has already engaged over 1,200 investigators from 128 countries. Any country within this network can request specialized training on AI for Safer Children free of charge, including possible follow-up training sessions. The UNICRI Centre for AI and Robotics is committed to sustainable capacity building for law enforcement agencies to leverage the positive potential of frontier technologies in this crucial area of child protection.

At the closing of the training, Col. Randriamalalaheritiana Rivo, Director of Judicial Police from the National Gendarmerie Madagascar, thanked the initiative for "sacrificing your time and resources for the benefit of Malagasy children" and encouraged participants: "No one has received a training like this before, so we ask you to share the knowledge and skills you have acquired with your colleagues".

For additional information, and to join the Global Hub if you are in law enforcement, please click here.