Police Reform

OSCE conducts regional meeting of heads of law enforcement departments for Central Asia in Dushanbe

The OSCE regional meeting of heads of law enforcement departments in Central Asia took place on 24-25 July 2018 in Dushanbe. The meeting was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and the Strategic Police Matters Unit of Transnational Threats Department the OSCE Secretariat.

The event brought together some 30 participants from OSCE Secretariat and field operations in Central Asia, Tajikistan’s law enforcement agencies, embassies accredited in Tajikistan, UNDP, UNODC and other international organizations.
 
Tuula Yrjölä, the Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, Rasa Ostrauskaite, the OSCE Co-ordinator of Activities to Address Transnational Threats and Umarzoda Ikrom, the Deputy Interior Minister delivered opening speeches at the event.
 
“This meeting will allow the heads of law enforcement departments working in the OSCE field operations in Central Asia to reinforce co-operation and to exchange information and best practices at the regional level and between the Secretariat and the field operations,” said Tuula Yrjölä.  “It will also help to exchange information between the OSCE, representatives of participating States and international organizations in transnational threats-related matters.”
 
Representatives of the OSCE from field operations in Central Asia briefed about the achievements, challenges and future plans in implementing law enforcement-oriented programmes and projects. Co-operation at the regional level was discussed in relation to issues such as fight against radicalization, protection of human rights and gender aspects in police activities and the role of police in preventing domestic violence.
 
On the second day of the event, participants travelled to Gissar where they attended the opening of a pilot model police station built with OSCE support in order to assist in developing the Community Policing Concept recently adopted by the Tajik Ministry of Interior.