Federal-Provincial Training for Law Enforcement Officials on Countering Terrorist Financing

18 December 2018, Islamabad. UNODC, in collaboration with the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organised a training on Counter Terrorism Financing for federal and provincial law enforcement officers on 17 and 18 December 2018 at the Serena Hotel.

The first day commenced with opening remarks from Mr Muhammad Iqbal, Director General NACTA; Mr Ahmed Farooq, Director General Counter Terrorism Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Mr Syed Arslan, Officer-in-Charge from UNODC Country Office Pakistan. They welcomed the participants, explaining the need for law enforcement agencies to develop their in-house capacities in addition to improving inter-agency cooperation for effectively countering terrorism financing.

Following the opening remarks Mr Arsalan Malik from UNODC delivered a presentation on the aim and objectives of the recently launched project entitled "Strengthening Pakistan's Response to Countering Terrorism Financing" which has been made possible with the financial support of the Government of Japan.  This was followed by a presentation from Mr. Simon Welch of UNODC on different investigation approaches and sources available to investigators.

In the afternoon, the participants completed eLearning training modules on Financial Investigation and Net Worth Analysis, an essential aspect in identifying terrorist assets available for confiscation.

Mr. Ahmed Farooq from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then delivered a detailed presentation on Pakistan's obligations related to the UN Security Council Resolution 1267.

On the second day Mr. Aurangzaib, Deputy Director from NACTA, delivered a presentation on the national framework of Pakistan which promotes conformity with the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and he also presented a Policy with NACTA has developed for LEAs on Financial Investigation in terrorism cases.

Subsequently Mr Simon Welch, delivered a presentation on Risk Based Approaches for the Financial Sector, acquainting the participants with the State Bank of Pakistan's directives on determining risk levels of customers and products for detecting terrorism financing.

Later in the day he delivered presentations on Interviewing and Debriefing in relation to Financial Investigations in addition to highlighting the important role Joint Investigation Teams can play in dealing with complex cases.

On completion of the course, the participants were awarded with certificates. The training was well received; and the participants expressed their appreciation to UNODC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and NACTA for organizing this speciated training.

The training was made possible with the support of the Government of Japan.