Staff Course for Women Leaders Concludes at OSCE Border Management Staff College in Tajikistan

Staff Course participants visit the Tajik-Afghan border, Panji Poyon, 16 May 2015. (OSCE/Ilona Kazaryan)

DUSHANBE, 29 May 2015 – The OSCE Border Management Staff College concluded its 13th Border Management Staff Course for Women Leaders in Dushanbe today.

“In the 21st century in spite of all changes, women remain underrepresented in the border security and management agencies. This course aims at promoting and encouraging women inclusion and participation in ensuring the safety and security of our borders,” said Alexander Eliseev, Chief of Education at the OSCE Border Management Staff College.

Twenty-five mid-level and senior managers from 14 OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation attended the course. The countries include Afghanistan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Ukraine.

The one-month initiative was designed according to the principles and standards of the OSCE Border Security and Management Concept which covers the political-military, economic and environmental as well as human aspects of the security.

It is composed of six overarching modules each reflecting relevant best practices and lessons identified. They focus on promoting border security and management in the OSCE area, review of the existing border security and management models; elements of border controls and co-operation; economic and environmental factors of border security and management; human dimension of border security and management; and organizational management and leadership.

The Staff Course for Women Leaders is added to the list of core offerings of the College since 2014.

In the framework of the one-month course, the participants visited the nearby border post with Afghanistan, participated in the group research projects and took part in the roundtable focusing on the recent developments in and around Afghanistan. Distinguished scholars, international subject area experts, as well as diplomats participated in the discussion.