4.9 Centre in Ashgabat Gender-based and Domestic Violence Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat Natalya Drozd (red scarf), OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender Issues Amarsanaa Darisuren (white jacket), and OSCE Adviser on Gender Issues Leena Avonius (red jacket) with partners from Turkmenistan at the roundtable meeting on national gender equality mechanisms. Ashgabat, 2 March 2018 (OSCE/Svetlana From 28 February to 2 March, the Centre facilitated in Ashgabat the first working visit of the OSCE`s Senior Gender Adviser (SAG) to Central Asia. The visit aimed at discussing with national and international partners in Turkmenistan the OSCE’s support to the ongoing efforts to promote gender equality in the host country. The SAG participated in a roundtable discussion on national mechanisms of gender equality, organized by the Centre. The roundtable discussion had the goal to discuss the ongoing implementation of the 2015 National Action Plan on Gender Equality in Turkmenistan. The participants represented the Mejlis, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, MoI, MFA, Ministry of Justice, the Supreme court, the State Migration Service, the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under the President, Ombudsperson for Human Rights, the Women’s Union, the Youth Union and the Hyakimlik (mayor’s office) of the city of Ashgabat (two participants from each institution). In addition, the SAG provided training on gender mainstreaming for the Centre’s staff. Ostroushenko) Compendium of Good Practices in Identity Management in the OSCE Region, hosted by ODIHR in co-operation with the TNTD in Warsaw, Poland. On 17 and 18 September, representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan participated in an OSCE-supported two-day regional seminar on “Combatting financing of terrorism: best practices within the OSCE region”, held in Ashgabat. The regional workshop aimed to share international standards and best practices in the area of combating CFT and the role of international co-operation in the detection of transboundary financial flows. The seminar elaborated on the assessment of risks related to the financing of terrorism and other methods of detection and suppression of terrorist financing channels. It also presented the distribution schemes to finance terrorism and FTFs and best practices in the detection of transboundary financial flows. The seminar addressed analytical methods to detect suspicious transactions and funding sources in the area of financing of FTFs. The practical exercises involved participants working in groups to review cases related to the investigation of terrorist financing cases by financial and criminal intelligence units. 114 On 19 and 20 April, the Centre facilitated participation of two representatives from Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Justice at the Third OSCE National Action Plan Academy on the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy. From 21 to 23 August, 31 August to 2 September and 6 to 8 December, the Centre’s implementing partner, the NGO Keyik Okara, conducted three seminars for ten high-school students to raise awareness of domestic violence, its prevention and the mitigation of its causes, as well as of referral mechanisms available to potential victims. From 8 to 12 October, the Centre organized a four-day training course on international human rights standards at the pre-trial and trial stages of criminal proceedings and investigations, and a one-day course on “Mechanisms of Preventing and Addressing Domestic Violence in the OSCE Region (legislative framework and practice in the OSCE participating States)” for 40 students and instructors of the Institute under Turkmenistan’s MoI, as well as the Institute of International Relations under Turkmenistan’s MFA. The course examined the concept and system of an international and domestic legal framework, including treaties, reporting documents under the UN Charter and Treaty Bodies (CEDAW Committee), as well as the national legislation, including the Constitution and Commentary to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Turkmenistan.