Strengthening border management in Viet Nam through UNODC eLearning platforms
Hanoi (Viet Nam), 16 March 2016 - In a co-operative effort to address border trafficking crimes, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Standing Office on Drugs and Crime (SODC) of Viet Nam held a training programme on transnational organised crimes using UNODC's Global eLearning platform for law enforcement officers of six BLOs in the An Giang and Tay Ninh Provinces of Viet Nam. The training was implemented as part of a component of national field trainings organised by UNODC to increase awareness and the capacity of border officials to collect, integrate, analyse and share information on cross-border crimes, with a focus on detecting and interdicting transnational crimes.
Twenty-three law enforcement officers from six BLO locations, including Tay Ninh Province (Moc Bai and Xa Mat) and An Giang Province (An Giang, An Phu, Tan Chau and Tinh Bien) participated in the training. A total of 92 training modules were delivered to frontline officers, with results from the pre-test and post-test showing notable increases in knowledge resulting in all officers passing the post-test assessment.
Providing standardised training within the Border Liaison Office (BLO) network has been highlighted as a top priority according to UNODC and the Ministry of Public Security, Standing Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Viet Nam National Steering Committee (V-NSC). A number of recent international conferences and UNODC threat assessments in the region continue to find the lack of consistent training amongst border officers to be among the greatest challenges in border trafficking incidents.
"eLearning is one of the global, regional and national efforts of UNODC to help Member States improve capacity for law enforcement officers to address transnational organised crime", said UNODC Viet Nam National Programme Officer on Law Enforcement, Mr. Nguyen Duc Long. "Participants highly appreciated the training and said the training was highly useful and relevant to their daily work at the remote borders."
Mr. Matthew Nice, UNODC Regional Coordinator for Border Management, stressed the need for standardised training curriculums for academies and BLO locations; additionally, more advanced technology is needed to improve communications among agencies and across borders. "The results from this training will be shared at next week's 9th V-NSC in Hanoi and access to the eLearning training platform will be provided to all BLO officers to empower their own professional development", said Mr. Nice.
In 2015, UNODC piloted the BLO Field Tablets project in Viet Nam, which were distributed to all BLO locations. These tablets include a number of pre-installed communication, learning and investigation tools for frontline officers, such as GPS cameras and training materials, and allow for quick access to the cloud-based eLearning platform even in the most remote regions. The use of new technologies within the BLO network will greatly facilitate exchanges of information and cooperation, among agencies and across borders.
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