14 September 2018 - A working document on informal standards for border management and control was drafted and shared with participants at UNODC's annual Law Enforcement Advisors Meeting (LEA), held recently in Vienna.
To tackle transnational threats to peace and security, it is essential that UNODC offices and programs cooperate effectively among themselves and with partner organizations. The annual meeting allowed for the exchange of best practices within UNODC and with partners.
Ms. Loide Aryee, Chief of UNODC's Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Branch, praised the daily efforts of partners implementing law enforcement-related projects and programmes with UNODC. She said the Office has "significantly strengthened its cooperation with international and regional organisations like INTERPOL, EUROPOL, CEPOL, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the World Customs Organization."
Over 60 experts and program officers from these and other organisations, as well as from UNODC, participated in the meeting. Discussions focused on border management and control, among others. UNODC presented its programmes on container control, airport security, initiatives by the Central Asian Office on border control, global maritime crime, and OSCE border management.
To capture the array of ideas shared in the course of these discussions, a working document was drafted and will be used to provide a basis for UNODC-wide informal reference standards for border control-related programmes and projects.
Innovative training initiatives for combating transnational crime were also highlighted. Participants showed keen interest in UNODC's E-learning training programmes, which can be adapted for specific regional or project focuses, and can also be provided in an abbreviated mobile format for use in the field.
During the meeting, the UNODC Liasion and Partnership Office in Mexico presented the "Smuggling of Migrants" interactive role-playing training video on mock investigations. The video was praised by participants for its originality in using actors and a staged case scenario that portrayed a variety of situations that law enforcement could face when investigating smuggling of migrants cases.
UNODC Liaison and Partnership Office in Mexico
