News and press releases

A three-day online training course on “Strengthening Capacities of the Service on Countering Illicit Drug Trafficking of the Ministry of Interior of the Kyrgyz Republic in Combating the Spread of Illicit Drugs Facilitated by the Internet” concluded on 15 December 2021 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Four OSCE diplomats received the OSCE’s White Ribbon award for their work promoting gender equality. The awards went to Annika Söder (Sweden), Marina Wyss (Switzerland), Fiel Vanthemsche (Belgium) and Sebastian Gahnström (Finland). The winners were announced in Vienna on 9 December and the awards were handed over at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 16 December 2021.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Presence in Albania jointly organized the online training course “Implementing Intelligence-Led Policing on Strategic and Operational Levels” on 9 and 10 December.

The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan handed over 200 devices for verifying travel document authenticity to the Border Service of the Committee for the National Security of Kazakhstan. The signing of the donation agreement was held on 13 December 2021 in Nur-Sultan. The Border Service will use the devices to identify forged travel documents during border control procedures in border crossing points across the country.

The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan, in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, organised a Young Policy Advisers Course (PolAd) from 22 to 26 November 2021 in Nur-Sultan.

An OSCE-supported online public discussion on "Analysis of the problem of gender inequality in Kazakhstan" was conducted online on 2 December 2021. The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan as a part of the international campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” in co-operation with the MediaNet International Centre for Journalism.

Committed to advancing participation of youth in crime prevention efforts, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities — together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) — launched the project “Enhancing Youth Crime and Drug Use Prevention through Education on Legality and Awareness Campaigns Addressing Threats of Organized Crime and Corruption” on 13 December 2021.