OSCE Office in Tajikistan

Organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorist activity pose a tremendous challenge for Tajikistan’s law enforcement agencies. These criminal activities are often connected and intertwined, and to combat them effectively the country’s police forces need considerable structural reform and new techniques. The Office assists Tajikistan in this process, both in terms of reforming the country’s legislative framework as well as through training and the introduction of democratic policing standards and modern community policing methods.

Successful police reform is not possible without building a strong relationship between a country’s citizens and its police forces, and for this reason the Office puts special emphasis on involving local communities in the reform process. Senior and operational managers are being trained on how to set efficient law enforcement priorities that also take into account international human rights standards. Training sessions and seminars organized by the Office cover issues as diverse as: leadership principles; motivation; solution-based change management; and gender and human rights matters.

On the legislative level, the Office has been strongly involved, together with Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the development process of a National Police Reform Strategy and a bill on policing that includes a Code of Professional Police Ethics.

The proximity to Afghanistan is an important reason why Tajikistan is increasingly battling with a serious drug problem. The OSCE is working with the country’s Drug Control Agency to implement a national anti-drug strategy. Another serious development, not only in Tajikistan but overall in Central Asia, is the emergence of violent extremism and radicalization leading to terrorism, a phenomenon at the root of terrorist activity. The Office is working with the Tajik authorities in building up local capacities to prevent and counter this problem.