OSCE and Spain’s Guardia Civil work to strengthen the preparedness of NGO staff against kidnapping for ransom

Strengthening the preparedness of NGO staff working in regions where they face a high risk of becoming a target of kidnapping for ransom is the focus of a three-day training course organized by the Transnational Threats Department of the OSCE Secretariat from 4 to 6 April 2017 in co-operation with the Spanish Guardia Civil’s Centre of Excellence for Special Training (CAE) in Logroño.

The event is part of the OSCE’s work on countering the financing of terrorism, with kidnapping for ransom being one of the sources through which terrorist groups seek to raise funds. This was highlighted in UN Security Council Resolution 2133 and the OSCE Ministerial Declaration on supporting its implementation, both of 2014.

The course not only raises the awareness of NGO staff working in high-risk areas such as the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo of how to prevent kidnapping for ransom from happening, it also provides them with the skills they need to improve their chances of survival in case it does. It is structured around topics including hostile surveillance, managing hostage crises, the stages of abduction and transport, holding, release and rescue, as well as the “return to normality”.

The participants are benefitting from practical exercises and simulations led by trainers from the Guardia Civil as well as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Jesuit Refugee Service.

The training is supported through extra-budgetary contributions by the United States of America. It is the third activity conducted as part of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s work to counter kidnapping for ransom. Two earlier activities were designed for governmental experts in charge of resolving and investigating kidnapping for ransom situations.