Kyrgyz trainers, supported by OSCE and UNODC, deliver training course on countering terrorist financing

A five-day training course aimed at strengthening the capacity of government officials from Kyrgyzstan to counter terrorist financing was organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s Global Programme against Money Laundering, from 10 to 15 July 2018.

The training course, held in Kyrgyzstan, was led by international experts together with four local government officials who were trained last year in Vienna in a train-the-trainers course organized by the OSCE and UNODC. It was conducted to assist Kyrgyzstan in countering terrorist financing in line with international standards, in particular UN Security Council Resolutions, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF)’s standards and OSCE commitments.

The course helped the participants to understand how improving inter-agency co-operation can help to disrupt terrorist financing.  Based on localized scenarios, it included sessions on national, regional and transnational threats, sources of information, money flows, tackling financial intelligence and strategic analysis. The participants were familiarized with specific instruments and techniques that could significantly improve their effectiveness in countering the financing of terrorism.

The training course was delivered to Kyrgyz officials from the capital Bishkek and from the country’s Chui, Naryn, Batken, Issyk-Kul, Osh and Jalal-Abad regions as a follow-up to the training delivered in 2017 by the OSCE and the UNODC to Kyrgyz officials working in the headquarters of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Ministry of the Interior, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the State Committee for National Security. It is part of a comprehensive multiannual capacity-building programme to support national efforts to counter terrorist financing in Central Asia.