Afghan, Tajik border officers enhance professional competencies at OSCE, UNDP Course

Vehicle search exercise conducted as part of a joint OSCE and UNDP Border Management Awareness course in Dushanbe, 19 November 2015. (OSCE / Ilona Kazaryan)

DUSHANBE, 19 November 2015 – A ten-day Border Management Awareness (BMA) course for 24 border officers from Afghanistan and Tajikistan concluded today at the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) in Dushanbe.

The course was co-organized with the EU-funded, UNDP-implemented Border Management Northern Afghanistan (BOMNAF) project.

The BMA course is a comprehensive education programme that among other topics focuses on customs and trade facilitation, human rights in border security targeting migration and refugees, gender equality, examination of persons and personal belongings, and concealments within the cargo.

“Border challenges have a global impact that can only be effectively addressed through enhancing international partnerships, which in turn, are established through the delivery of such courses,” said Dita Nowicka, BMSC Director. “This initiative is of utmost importance as it continues to earn praise from the participants and experts involved.”

William Lawrence, EU-BOMNAF Project Manager stated that such courses encourage cross-border co-operation and communication that are now more important than ever. “Students are able to improve their professional awareness, but just as importantly they can share their own unique experiences with other students and experts to the benefit of all concerned on both sides of the Tajik-Afghan border.”

The course was delivered through a mixture of theoretical and practical exercises including field visits to the nearby border with Uzbekistan and the dog training centre in Dushanbe where participants observed a demonstration on the use of dogs in border security and management operations.