Training Course Strengthens Capacity to Counter Terrorist Financing - Hstoday - HSToday

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A three-day training course aimed at further strengthening the capacity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to counter terrorist financing concluded on October 21.

Organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the residential training course was led by international experts and eight local trainers who were trained through an OSCE-UNODC train-the-trainers program. Participants included experts from the Ministry of Security of BiH, the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Ministry of Interior of the Federation of BiH, the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska and Brčko District Police. Of the 23 participants, 17 were trainees and eight local trainers.

“Coordination and better use of financial intelligence and operational data, as well as information derived from analyzes of law enforcement agencies, knowledge enhancement, enhanced cooperation between institutions and agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, can greatly contribute to effectively cutting off terrorist financing channels,” said Ivana Veselčić, Assistant Minister of Security of BiH, during the opening remarks.

Based on country- and region-specific scenarios, trainees studied international, regional and national threats, financial requirements of a terrorist organization, sources of financial information, and money flows. More than half of the course was devoted to practical work using exercises and case studies tailored to the country, emphasizing the key role of inter-agency cooperation in countering terrorist financing. Western Union, a private financial services company, presented on the importance of public-private partnerships.

The course was the first module of a comprehensive multiannual OSCE-UNODC training program, which aims to further improve BiH’s Countering Financing of Terrorism framework and build the country’s capacity to, in full compliance with international commitments and standards, prevent terrorists from moving, raising and owning funds for terrorist activity.

The course was organized with the financial support of the United States.