Protecting public spaces and critical infrastructure from terrorist attacks – first national awareness-raising workshop in Kazakhstan

National experts from the Government of Kazakhstan convened at the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office near Astana on 27 and 28 March 2024 for an interactive national workshop on the protection of vulnerable targets from terrorist attacks.

This event marks the second activity under the OSCE’s new initiative – Project PROTECT. Project PROTECT strengthens national approaches to protecting vulnerable targets from terrorist threats and other hazards. As part of Project PROTECT’s capacity-building efforts, this workshop raised awareness of the need to protect vulnerable targets from terrorist attacks in a human rights-compliant manner. It also gathered good practices from Kazakhstan and identified priorities for future project activities in the country.

A key focus throughout the event was the importance of partnerships and collaboration within government entities as well as with the private sector, including those involved in the management of critical infrastructure. The complex web of actions that make up risk-based strategies that protect vulnerable targets from terrorist attacks is spread throughout government agencies and affects the entirety of society – from emergency management and law enforcement to the private sector and beyond. Therefore, effective vulnerable targets protection is collaborative at its core.

“The terrorist threat to critical infrastructure and vulnerable facilities is among the most serious security challenges facing the international community today, and it is constantly evolving. In many countries of the OSCE region, businesses, governments, and emergency and security services work in close co-operation to continuously improve and strengthen the protection of critical infrastructures and services,” said Deputy Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana Yuri Fenopetov during his opening remarks. 

“Today, representatives of law enforcement agencies and interested organizations have gathered here to learn from current knowledge and best practices. I would like to express my gratitude to our permanent partners – the OSCE Action against Terrorism Unit and the OSCE Programme Office in Astana for jointly organizing this workshop,” said Maralbek Eshimov, Vice-Rector of the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan.

The workshop covered a range of topics related to the protection of both critical infrastructure and soft targets – or public spaces – from terrorist attacks. Deep-dive sessions covered topics including risk assessment and mitigation, insider threat management, identification of critical infrastructure interdependencies, public-private partnerships, human rights and privacy considerations, and business continuity planning. The event also benefited from the participation of independent experts and officials from the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and the Government of France’s Agency for French Education Abroad.

This workshop was organized with financial support from Germany.