OSCE, UNODC and OSCE Mission in Kosovo step up efforts to enhance local capabilities to counter terrorist financing

On 27 April, a three-day course aimed at strengthening the skills of local entities in conducting effective financial investigations in counter-terrorism concluded in Pejë/Peć. The course was organized by the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department, with the support of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Following a training-of-trainers course held earlier this year in Vienna, a team of local trainers, supported by international experts, presented topics related to the financial requirements of terrorist organizations and the integral role of financial investigations in counter-terrorism operations, both reactive and proactive. Multi-agency teams engaged in exercises, which emphasized the importance of interagency co-operation in conducting effective financial investigations in counter-terrorist financing.

During the opening remarks, Koen De Smedt, Project Officer at the Action against Terrorism Unit of the Transnational Threats Department, emphasized that the OSCE considers stemming the flow of terrorist funds as the backbone of counter-terrorism efforts. It prevents terrorist organizations from being able to run their operations and, ultimately, contributes to the prevention of attacks. 

The course forms part of a comprehensive training programme on countering terrorist financing funded by the United States. The objective of the programme is to further build the operational framework of local bodies to prevent terrorists from moving, using and raising funds for terrorist purposes, in line with international commitments and standards, in particular UN Security Council Resolution 2462 (2019), Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and international human rights standards.