MOGADISHU, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Saturday wrapped up gender awareness training for about 98 Somali police officers in four regional states in Somalia to help broaden their knowledge on human rights.

The AU mission said the officers including other security personnel were trained in places including Kismayo, Baidoa, Beletweyne, with the most recent being in Adado in central Somalia.

Stella Maranga, the AMISOM Gender Officer, said the objective of the trainings is to try and sensitize the members of the military and the security forces on the importance of gender and respect for human rights.

Maranga said the meetings were also meant to highlight issues of gender to the participants to enable them to handle such matters in their daily duties.

"We have been conducting a series of trainings for the Somalia security sector; these trainings are targeting members of the security sector from the CID, the police, NISA, the military and also the civilians who work in the ministries that are related to the security sector," she said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

AMISOM said the trainings were part of the mission's elaborate program to help professionalize the Somali security forces and make it effective in maintaining law and order.