OSCE Office in Tajikistan trains managers and instructors on enhancing their skills in dealing with explosive hazards

A four-day seminar organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on explosive hazards training management opened at the Office’s premises in Dushanbe on 29 March 2016.

Eighteen training managers and instructors working in explosive hazards reduction and response at the national armed forces, national mine action co-ordination authorities as well as supporting agencies from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and the Unites States, are taking part.

“The seminar brings forward the general principles and modalities for developing and implementing training courses in the field of explosive ordnance disposal in accordance with the international standards,” said Fabio Piana, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan. “The OSCE Office, in the capacity of training manager, will continue to provide the platform that enables the transfer of relevant Mine Action competencies at the individual, collective or institutional levels.”

Lead Instructor, Sergeant First Class Mike Wells of the US Army Central (ARCENT), said: “A common understanding and delivery of training materials and teaching methods among Central Asian military specialists contributes to the standardization of trainings and inter-operability of their specialists and units, for example, in joint military exercises and peace-keeping operations.”

The seminar, financed by the US State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, continues the OSCE Office-facilitated Explosive Ordnance Disposal training cycle for 2016. The latter is being carried out in training partnership with US ARCENT and hosted by Tajikistan’s Defence Ministry.

Since 2009, the OSCE has been supporting the development of co-operative mechanisms on a technical level among states in Central Asia and Afghanistan to address concerns and challenges stemming from explosive hazards.