OSCE Border Management Staff College concludes its twelfth staff course

 

 

12th Border Management Staff Course Group Photo (OSCE BMSC/Eraj Asadullaev)

DUSHANBE, 24 October 2014 - A graduation ceremony for the 12th Border Management Staff Course took place today at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe.

Twenty-four participants representing eight OSCE participating States (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Tajikistan and Ukraine) and three OSCE Partners for Co-operation (Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia) attended the course. The course programme was based on the principles and standards of the 2005 OSCE Border Security and Management Concept, covering the political-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects of security.

The course included a research component which allowed participants to look into various current and future trends in border security and management, international conventions, agreements and other legal acts.

On 23 October, as part of the 12th Staff Course, the College organized a roundtable discussion on “Crisis Management and Border Security” that focused on crisis management experiences not just in Central Asia but across the OSCE region.

The aim of the discussion was to bring together participants from the Staff Course, experts from the international community based in Dushanbe, governmental officials and NGOs to discuss topics closely related to crisis management. Topics focused on crisis prevention, the management of the crisis itself, flows of refugees, the role of cross-border markets in deflating a crisis, and the involvement of media in crises. Participants also discussed regional co-operation, border delimitation and demarcation, crisis communication, and women's role in border security and management.

“All groups of professionals attending the Staff Course demonstrated exceptional performance, great involvement, leadership experience and potential, and demonstrated a commitment to learning more,” said Henryk Raczkowski, Director of the OSCE Border Management Staff College. “These are professionals guarding our borders and ensuring our common security. We feel privileged to contribute to their further development and future successes.”