In March, TNTD/BSMU provided an expert contribution to a “Roundtable meeting on Updating Border Management Training Curriculum”, conducted by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in close co-operation with the State Border Service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. The border management training curriculum was developed for the border services of Turkmenistan under the extrabudgetary project “Strengthening Border Guards Capacities in Turkmenistan”. The event was organized in order to better respond to the host country’s needs and to involve relevant border officers from Afghanistan in the next phase of the aforementioned project. In August, TNTD/BSMU, upon invitation from the BMSC, participated and contributed to a Border Security and Management for Senior Leadership Course aimed at enhancing the professional skills of current and future border security managers in the context of international standards. Border Security and Management / Customs In April, the “10th Annual Meeting of the OSCE Border Security and Management National Focal Points Network” took place in Berlin, Germany. The meeting was devoted to promoting cross-border co-operation and confidencebuilding to address emerging threats and challenges in the OSCE region and allowed the participants to review emerging transnational threats and challenges. The event was attended by 102 participants from 28 countries and nine regional and international organizations. The meeting was followed by a study visit to the German-Polish border in Świecko, where the participants had an opportunity to learn about good practices in conducting joint border operations and utilizing specialized structures and information exchange mechanisms for more efficient border security and management. In May, TNTD/BSMU launched a new multi-phase initiative aimed to establish and train OSCE Mobile Training Teams to deliver on-site training to border security and management officials to be able to better identify and interview potential foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), in full compliance with international human rights standards, at entry and exit border check points of OSCE participating States. Seventeen border security and management officers and counter-terrorism experts selected from OSCE participating States and PfC were trained on various subjects, including the effective use of available databases, understanding behavioural indicators, detecting forged travel documents, and train-the-trainer instructional methods. Three Mobile Training Teams, each consisting of 5 to 6 officers/experts, were established and a provisional three-day training curriculum to be utilized by the OSCE Mobile Training Teams during the deployment 32 phases. All training courses conducted under this project were and will continue to be supported by subject matter experts from international, regional organizations and from the OSCE participating States. The third phase of this project will include the first deployment of the OSCE mobile training team to selected border crossing points (e.g. international airports, land borders and/or seaports) in order to deliver training to personnel assigned at these locations on identifying and interviewing potential FTFs. Throughout the course of the year, TNTD/BSMU encouraged OSCE participating States and PfC to harmonize and align their BSM policies and procedures with regional and international good practices. In this vein, in November, TNTD/BSMU, conducted the “OSCE-wide Workshop on Demarcation and Delimitation Practices” in Vienna, Austria. The workshop consisted of a series of presentations and case studies focused on the relevant international legal framework, definitions and approaches to international delimitation and demarcation, peculiarities of negotiation processes, and specific national and bilateral experiences from across the OSCE region. A field visit to the “Triplex” border between Austria, Hungary and Slovakia was also organized for the participants. The workshop was instrumental in furthering important dialogue and exchanges of views on technical issues related to delimitation and demarcation, and provided a solid basis for further OSCE support in this area. In November, TNTD/BSMU, supported by the OSCE German Chairmanship-in-Office and the Government of Malta, organized a “Workshop on Strengthening Cooperation between the OSCE Partners for Co-operation and participating States in the Area of Border Security and Management”. The event, attended by over 60 participants, demonstrated the importance of issues of risk analysis and management in the area of border security and management to OSCE Mediterranean PfC. The three-day interactive discussions also showed the interest among the OSCE participating States and Mediterranean PfC to learn from each other, to strengthen cross-border bonds, to engage with experts, to consider new ways of solving difficult issues, and to explore additional forms of international assistance in addressing current challenges. The workshop led to the development of a multi-year project focused on strengthening the current risk analysis and co-operation management systems of the Mediterranean PfC. Throughout 2016, TNTD/BSMU consistently supported diverse capacity-building training events within the BMSC in Dushanbe by providing thematic input and serving as instructors.