United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

South Eastern Europe

Strengthening the counter-terrorism financing system in Kosovo[1]

5-7 September 2023, Peja/Pec, Kosovo: UNODC jointly with OSCE organized a capacity building Analysis course on Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) for participants from Kosovo.

The training course was the second follow-up workshop on CFT Analysis. The eight selected local trainers from the Tax Administration, Financial Intelligence Unit, Directorate for Investigation of Economic Crime, Counter-terrorism Directorate, Basic Court/Special Department, Prosecution Office and the Coordination Office Against Terrorism delivered the course to 25 participants from agencies involved in counter terrorist financing.

The CFT experts recognized the links between illicit financial flows and terrorism and focused the course on the identification and analysis of suspicious transactions relating to terrorism financing. The course also addressed the relationship between the agencies responsible for investigating money laundering and the financing of terrorism with the goal of ensuring that every agency is able to provide high-quality and usable information.

Furthermore, participants developed their analytical techniques and learned how information is collected, from what sources, and what tools are used to develop information into financial intelligence. Localised scenarios were used covering strategic risks to security including terrorism and associated threats from transnational organized crime. The course provided practical insight into the concepts of Intelligence and analysis and how to apply them in CFT investigations.

The course forms part of a comprehensive training programme on CFT with the objective to further build the operational framework to prevent terrorists from moving, using and raising funds for terrorist purposes. The main goals of the programme is to strengthen local capacities in line with advanced international practices, to enhance inter-agency cooperation and to promote public-private partnerships in the field of CFT. This project is supported by the UNODC Programme Office in Skopje and the UNODC Global Programme against Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism. The course was organized with the financial support of the United States of America.