UNODC conducts a four-day training course for officers of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan

On 1-4 December, UNODC conducted a four-day training course on “Use of specialized software for data collection and analysis” for eight officers from the State Border Service of Turkmenistan responsible for data collection and analysis. The training was conducted online via Zoom platform and aimed to strengthen the capacity of the participants in data processing and analysis, as well as to improve their knowledge and practical skills in using databases.

The training course was delivered by Ms. Rakhima Mansurova, UNODC National Project Officer and Mr. Yuri Chikalov, acting Head of the Information Analytical Division of Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center for Combating the Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors (CARICC).

“This is one of our first national training courses conducted as part of the border cooperation component. I am very happy that Turkmenistan has joined this project. I am confident that the officers will benefit from this course. The acquired knowledge and skills will facilitate their challenging work,” said Mr. Chary Atayev, acting Head of UNODC Programme Office in Turkmenistan in his opening speech.

“We have already conducted a series of similar courses for law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. This pilot course will help you to apply MS Excel in the analysis of raw data via structuring available information,” said Mr. Yuri Chikalov.

The course was tailored to the needs of the border officers. It consisted of six modules. The trainees enhanced their knowledge and practical skills in using MS Excel for further implementation of the acquired skills in their daily work. In particular, they learned about AutoSum tool and statistical functions, combining text and numbers, functions of references and search (VLOOKUP, INDEX, SEARCH, VIEW, INDIRECT and others), dynamic arrays, dynamic range with auto-sizing, PivotTables and using formulas, slices and PivotCharts to analyze raw data, and converting a text report into an Excel table using functions and a PivotTable.

The training course was conducted within the framework of the Border Cooperation Component funded by the Government of Japan and designed to counter the trafficking of Afghan opiates through the northern route by establishing Border Liaison Offices (BLOs) at the key border crossing points in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The main goal of the project is to strengthen cross-border cooperation by promoting BLO’s concept and enhance information and communication networks among border agencies in Central Asia. The component is part of Sub-programme 1 “Countering transnational organized crime, illicit drug trafficking and preventing terrorism” of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia.

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Nurangez Abdulhamidova

Communication and External Relations Officer

UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (Dushanbe)

Email: nurangez.abdulhamidova[at]un.org