OSCE Border Management Staff College holds workshop on national border management strategy implementation

Mirzamir Sidikov, Head of Information and Analytical Unit of the State Border Service of Kyrgyzstan contributes to discussion on development of National Border Strategies and relevant action plans in Dushanbe, 13 September 2017. (OSCE/Ilona Kazaryan)

A workshop on national border management strategy development and implementation with the participation of 15 representatives of border services of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan was conducted from 12 to 14 September 2017 at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe.

“Work on national strategy implementation can only be conducted through applying a comprehensive approach. Participants shared experience on the practical aspects of implementation, including challenges and problems encountered,” said Alexander Eliseev, Chief of Education at the OSCE Border Management Staff College. “Most of the workshop consisted of practical exercises, the main focus of which was adjusting approaches and strategies and forecasting, as well as consideration of national conditions and factors.”

Major General Istvan Samu, Special Adviser of Hungary’s Minister of the Interior, said that co-operation between bordering countries is an integral part of the successful implementation of any strategy, and that synchronizing the particularities and identifying the separate needs of each country is vital in order to be able to draft a viable plan of action. “The strategies we discussed have now matured to a point from which they can be further developed and improved. This workshop helped us to determine the areas the colleagues from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan should most focus on, and the development methodologies that would contribute to the subsequent realization.”

Colonel Konstantin Buravov, Head of the Information Analysis Unit at the Russian Border Service’s Headquarters, said that the workshop was timely and enriching for both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with regard to the respective stages of implementation of their national border security strategies. “The discussion focused on strategy implementation methodologies as well as on making implementation more viable in terms of timeframes and available resources,” he said.

“Since many organizations and agencies are involved in strategy realization it is very important to establish those timeframes and the sequence of implementing its separate elements. As experts, our goal here is to assist the border security and management services to focus on addressing high-priority tasks as outlined by the strategy in a co-ordinated effort,” said Colonel Buravov.