Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries (UNODC)

Technical workshop conducted under the Regional Working Group on Law Enforcement Training 

11-12 July 2017, Almaty, Kazakhstan 

 

Sub-programme 1 on Regional Law Enforcement Cooperation under the UNODC Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries (RP) conducted a Regional Workshop on Law Enforcement Training in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 11-12 July 2017. The workshop was convened under the auspices of the Regional Working Group on Law Enforcement Training (RWGT) and included 28 Participants from Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the representatives of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre (CARICC).

Mr. Jeremy Milsom, RP Senior Programme Coordinator, made the opening remarks, welcoming the representatives of training institutions of the relevant law enforcement agencies. During the two day event, the participants discussed several issues including practices, problems and potential solutions to strengthen coordination among the law enforcement educational systems in the region. During the first day, the participants from the RP countries presented their view of the current situation as well as challenges related to organizing training courses for law enforcement agencies in their respective countries. Mr. Yusuf Mollaoglu, the RP Sub-Programme 1 Coordinator made a presentation providing an overview of the activities under the sub-programme and highlighting the importance of developing standardized training curricula and criteria.

On day two, discussions over the standardization of law enforcement training systems was the major topic, with Ms. Amelia Hannaford, UNODC Project Coordinator, making a presentation on the training cycle and its standardization.

With a view to better understand the potential gaps and weaknesses of existing training systems, the participants agreed to conduct further research and consider a set of criteria with which they will be able to measure their effectiveness, and further discuss this topic during the next meeting.

Likewise, the participants of the workshop agreed that the training of trainers (ToT) is a crucial element in strengthening the quality of the respective training institutions. With this understanding, the workshop members agreed that it would be useful for the countries to present ToT methods used in their respective countries at the next workshop, with a view of exchanging experiences and best practices.

At the end of workshop, the participants developed draft conclusions and a plan of action for the future, covering such subjects as visits to local training institutions which should be conducted in future working group meetings. In general, it was acknowledged that cross-visits within the region can play an important role in sharing best practices and improving the harmonization of training approaches in the region.

UNODC thanks Finland and the Russian Federation for funding the event.