Albania explores financial disruption options during OSCE-UNODC training course on countering the financing of terrorism

A four-day course aimed at further strengthening Albania’s capacity to counter the financing of terrorism concluded on 11 September 2021 in Pogradec, Albania. The course was organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, with the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the OSCE Presence in Albania.

Twenty-one participants, including seven women, from Albania’s General Directorate for the Prevention of Money Laundering, the State Intelligence Service and the State Police took part in the course, which highlighted various instruments and techniques to assess and disrupt terrorist activity.

International experts together with five local trainers led the course. More than half of the course was devoted to practical work. Inter-agency teams examined the ‘business model’ of terrorist networks and learned how to apply techniques, including auditing and vulnerabilities analysis, to disrupt the financing of terrorism.

The course, organized with the financial support of the United States, is part of a comprehensive multi-annual training programme on countering the financing of terrorism, jointly implemented by the OSCE and the UNODC since 2018.

The training programme is designed to support Albania to comply with international standards, in particular UN Security Council Resolutions, such as UN Security Council Resolution 2462 (2019), Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) standards, and OSCE commitments.