United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

The UNODC Regional Office in East Africa (ROEA)

UNODC and Germany Support Eastern Africa Law Enforcement Agencies to Prevent and Counter Terrorism 

Dar es Salaam, 27-30 May 2019,This week in Tanzania, UNODC, with the support of the Government of Germany, brought together regional law enforcement and prosecution agencies from Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda as well as regional partners from INTERPOL and EAPCCO for a comprehensive counter-terrorism table top exercise. The event was the culmination of a multi-year counter-terrorism programme and specialised training assistance delivered by UNODC in Eastern Africa. This programme has focused on strengthening the intelligence and investigation capacities of law enforcement officials to prevent terrorist acts and to bring terrorists to justice.This table top exercise focussed on a practical terrorism case scenario which required participants to work together in both a national and regional context in order to successfully resolve the case. The event built on previous national and regional training activities which UNODC has been providing under the German-funded regional programme to support intelligence-led policing, digital evidence collection and regional cooperation on terrorism matters.

In addition to this very practical collaboration, UNODC, the Government of Germany and countries in Eastern Africa are also partnering at the policy and programmatic levels. At a side event, held on the margins of the 28th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on 24 May in Vienna, UNODC, the Government of Germany, and senior law enforcement officers from Kenya, Uganda, and Somalia discussed the very real terrorism threats in the region, ways to address these challenges jointly, as well as the significant progress being made on the ground as a result of the training, mentoring and equipment provided by UNODC.

In particular, it was noted that several terrorist attacks in the region had been foiled as a result of support and assistance provided by UNODC and international partners.At the side event, Mr. Johan Kruger, Head of Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes, UNODC Regional Office on Eastern Africa, thanked the Government of Germany and the Eastern Africa Member States for their partnership with UNODC, noting that "Terrorism is a complex threat, affecting regional and international peace and stability. UNODC is pleased to be supporting countries in the region to strengthen their specialized intelligence and investigation skills to effectively prevent and counter this threat. We commend the countries of the region for the very real progress that has been made so far and we look forward to continuing to support these efforts in the future".