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The current Global Maritime Crime Programme Indian Ocean West (IOW) Team was formed through a merger with the former Gulf of Aden/Red Sea (GARS) Team in February 2023 and now works with partner agencies in 13 countries from Pakistan to South Africa. The Team is based in the Regional Office for East Africa in Nairobi, with staff in four other countries: Madagascar, Seychelles, Somalia and South Africa, working closely with the Regional Office for Southern Africa and the Pakistan Country Office. This programme is the oldest team in GMCP, having started work on countering piracy in the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in 2009, and has since then expanded in the fight against all forms of maritime crime with a focus on regional cooperation, port security and legal finish.
From Training to Mentoring: In 2021, IOW team launched its Maritime Law Enforcement Mentoring Programme, with mentors embedded with the maritime law enforcement agencies of Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and Tanzania. This embedment allows the mentors to provide specific training leading to qualification on a regionally standardized list of seamanship and maritime law enforcement skills and to deliver on-the-ground advice and support on operational planning methods and fostering a culture of maintenance. In addition, UNODC GMCP provides support by organizing Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) trainings and seminars, constructing ship-in-a-box Visit Board Search and Seizure Simulator facilities and organizing Maritime Rule of Law Exercises intended to integrate and exercise skills developed in all areas of GMCP training on MDA, maintenance, boarding operations and prosecution into single, full-scale simulations at sea.
Watch this video to learn more about our Maritime Rule of Law Exercises.
Regional Cooperation: UNODC GMCP IOW has traditionally provided technical, material and infrastructural support for law enforcement, prosecution and detention. All interventions have a strong focus on regional cooperation and, under the mandate of its Indian Ocean Forum on Maritime Crime (IOFMC), it provides a strong coordination and enforcement mechanism, covering thematic areas of intervention focused mainly, but not exclusively, on maritime drug trafficking, crimes in the fisheries sector, countering trafficking of weapons and improvised explosive device components and enforcement of sanctions regimes established by the UN Security Council. Under the IOFMC, UNODC GMCP has organized regional prosecutor network fora as well Southern Route Partnership meetings, bringing together anti-narcotics and maritime law enforcement agencies from countries along the maritime heroin and methamphetamine trafficking route from the Makran Coast to Southern Africa. In addition, UNODC GMCP is working together with other international and regional organizations in the implementation of its mandate, including CMF, EUNAVFOR, INTERPOL and IMO.
Port Security: Under the EU programme on Port Security and Safety of Navigation, UNODC GMCP has been working together with UNODC Passenger and Cargo Border Team on improving the security of ports in nine countries in the region. UNODC GMCP is focusing under this project on ensuring legal finish for crimes in and around ports, waterside security and incident and emergency case management.
Watch this video to learn more about Port Security project activities in Namibia.
From Law of the Sea to Simulated Trials: UNODC GMCP assists member states in achieving legal finish of maritime crimes. This starts with delivering expertise on law of the sea, using the GMCP publication Maritime Crime: A Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners. In addition, UNODC GMCP established the Prosecutor Network Forum, which is a cross-cutting pillar within the IOFMC that provides a framework that allows prosecutors from across the Indian Ocean region to meet, share knowledge, solve problems and discuss cooperative strategies for prosecuting maritime crimes, including piracy, heroin trafficking, human trafficking, human smuggling and wildlife trafficking. The forum includes relevant training on topics, such as mutual legal assistance and the development of mock trials to provide a coherent and coordinated approach to prosecuting regional maritime crimes. The forum also helps member states review legal frameworks, with a view to ratifying and incorporating relevant international conventions into national law. Lastly, UNODC GMCP’s legal work includes programmes to embed mentors in prosecutor offices and to facilitate expert exchange visits between prosecutor offices within the region.
Watch this video to learn more about our simulated trials in Kenya and Seychelles.
