OSCE and UN Office on Drugs and Crime deliver online train-the-trainer course to enhance Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capacities to counter terrorist financing

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s Action against Terrorism Unit, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) organized an online train-the-trainer course from 23 to 25 November 2020, with the aim of strengthening Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) capacities in countering the financing of terrorism.

Senior experts and practitioners from the Ministry of Security of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Ministry of Interior of the Federation of BiH, and the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska took part in the course.

Together with the OSCE lead trainers, participants co-produced scenario-based exercises, adapting the OSCE-UNODC training courses on countering terrorist financing to the needs of BiH. Participants also learned how to facilitate presentations and discussions with representatives from multiple agencies at the upcoming training courses.

As part of a sustainable training programme delivered by the OSCE and the UNODC, the senior experts participating in the train-the-trainer courses, jointly with the OSCE and UNODC lead trainers, will go on to train further experts from relevant authorities in BiH in the coming years.

The multi-year training programme on countering terrorist financing aims to increase the country’s capacity to detect and combat terrorist financing and strengthen compliance with international standards in this area. These international standards are embedded in relevant international conventions, UN Security Council Resolutions, UN norms, OSCE commitments that promote human rights-based approaches in countering terrorist financing, the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and interpretive notes.  

The train-the-trainer course emphasized the key role of inter-agency and international co-operation and of multi-stakeholder approaches in countering terrorist financing.