domestic violence investigation and protection of victims. The training courses were conducted in Kokshetau, Astana, Atyrau, Shymkent and Ust-Kamenogorsk for more than 150 police officers from all regions of Kazakhstan. In addition to gaining insight and increased knowledge about domestic violence, participants discussed good practices and reviewed administrative domestic violence cases with city court judges and prosecutors. Together with experts from NGOs, they identified effective ways to implement recently adopted legislative amendments in their daily work with victims, amendments strongly advocated for by the Centre. In addition, the participants visited crisis centres for victims of cruel treatment. On 25 November in Almaty, the Centre supported a closing event in a multi-year project called “Say No to Violence.” Some 60 representatives from the National Commission on Women’s Affairs and Family Demographic Policy, law enforcement agencies, the Almaty City Administration, the Almaty City Department of Education, Health, Labour and Social Programmes and the District Prosecutor’s Office, participated in the event intended to raise awareness about the need to develop practical mechanisms for co-ordination between law enforcement officers and other government departments in response to cases of domestic violence. In the framework of the project, the Centre conducted four workshops for 100 Almaty police officers on gender aspects and legal mechanisms of working with victims of domestic violence. It also supported two publications for law enforcement officers and prosecutors on criminal code and code of administrative offences related to combating domestic violence. Border Management and Security From 8-10 April, the Centre accompanied and supported the participation of an Interior Ministry representative in a regional seminar on machine readable travel documents and traveller identification management. The seminar was organized in Tashkent, Uzbekistan by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and International Civil Aviation Organization. On 22-23 May, an OSCE-supported regional conference on risk management in customs was held in the framework of the Astana Economic Forum. The event was co-organized with the Customs Control Committee of the Ministry of Finance and the World Customs Organization. It brought together over 150 leading international experts and high-ranking representatives of the customs services of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Uzbekistan, China and Thailand, as well as foreign and domestic businesses. Discussions focused on the European experience in the application of risk management systems, interaction between customs administrations and the business community and strategies to improve risk management systems. An expert from the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities presented the OSCE activities in this field. On 11-12 September, the Centre co-organized with the Customs Committee of the Finance Ministry and the US Embassy a two-day regional seminar on countering transnational organized crime in the area of customs. Some 30 customs officers from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Ukraine learned from experts from Georgia and representatives of CARICC about good international practices in this area and exchanged their countries’ experiences. An interactive exercise simulated reallife situations that customs officers might face in their everyday work. From 13-31 October, the Centre co-organized with the Canine Centre of the Customs Control Committee and the US Embassy a three-week advanced training course in Almaty aimed at enhancing law enforcement officers’ skills in effective use of detection dogs in security-related operations. Thirteen canine unit officers from across the country, representing the Customs Control Committee, the National Security Committee, the State Protection Service, the Border Guard Service, the Interior Ministry and the Military Police of 135