United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

South Eastern Europe

UNODC and OSCE kicked off a programme on Countering the Financing of Terrorism for Kosovo[1] officials

February 28-2 March 2023, Vienna Austria: UNODC jointly with OSCE organized a train-the-trainer course aimed at improving the skills of officials from Kosovo to conduct effective financial investigations in counterterrorism. The course is part of a comprehensive training programme on countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) focused on the implementation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and related Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. The main goals of the programme are to strengthen local capacities in line with advanced international practices, enhance inter-agency cooperation and promote public-private partnerships in the field of CFT.

A team of selected local trainers from the relevant departments further enhanced their knowledge on the terrorist funding cycle, the importance of finance for terrorist organisations as well as types of illicit financial flows. The inter-agency team examined and further developed the exercise-based training material alongside co-produced scenarios tailored to the local context. The course also included identification of financial requirements of terrorist organizations, current local terrorist threats, the difference between money laundering and terrorist financing as well as relevant UN Resolutions and types of illicit financial flows.

Additionally, the course provided a practical awareness of the importance of conducting financial investigations in counterterrorism cases, both reactive and proactive cases.

The training was delivered with a train-the-trainer element so as to allow the participants to deliver and share the newly acquired knowledge and skills with their peers. After successful completion of the courses, the practitioners will be able to demonstrate enhanced abilities to conduct CFT analysis, terrorist financing investigations, as well as domestic and international co-operation, with respect to human rights.