Preventing the abuse of non-profit organizations for terrorism financing in focus of OSCE seminar for government and civil society in Astana

Preventing non-profit organizations (NPO) from being abused for terrorism financing was the focus of a seminar organized in Astana from 18 to 20 April 2023 by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Programme Office in Astana.

The seminar brought together 30 participants from government and civil society in Kazakhstan, to discuss the current situation and challenges connected with this topic.

They were provided with an overview of international standards based on United Nations Security Council resolutions, as well as Recommendation 8 on the non-profit sector from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body dedicated to countering money laundering and terrorism financing.

Participants also discussed conducting a review of the non-profit sector as part of national risk assessments and the importance of a co-operative approach between government and civil society.

“International commitments encourage States to work co-operatively with the non-profit sector to prevent the abuse of non-profit organizations by and for terrorists, while also reminding States that they must respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. In the OSCE, we have a strong mandate to engage on this topic, and our co-operation is based on long-term engagement with the Kazakh government and civil society,” said Yuri Fenopetov, Deputy Head of Mission of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in his remarks to the seminar.

Facilitators from the Human Security Collective, a member of FATF’s Global NPO Coalition, and from the Greenacre Group, a consultancy specializing on the topic of the event, highlighted good practices in mitigating the unintended consequences of FATF Recommendation 8. These include burdensome registration, licensing and reporting requirements for the non-profit sector, issues of financial access and restrictions on receiving foreign funding.

The event marked the piloting of a dedicated OSCE training course on the NPO sector, further widening the scope of specialized capacity-building support in the field of countering terrorism financing.