UNRCCA CO-ORGANIZES THE HIGH-LEVEL BORDER SECURITY CONFERENCE

20 Oct 2022

UNRCCA CO-ORGANIZES THE HIGH-LEVEL BORDER SECURITY CONFERENCE

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan

On 18-19 October 2022, UNRCCA and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, the European Union (EU) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) organized the high-level conference “International and Regional Border Security and Management Cooperation to Counter Terrorism and Prevent the Movement of Terrorists”.

The high-level event was conducted under the Dushanbe Process launched in May 2018 to discuss challenges relevant to preventing violent extremism and countering terrorism and ways to address them.  

The conference was aimed at promoting cooperation on border security management issues outlined in a number of the UN Security Council resolutions calling upon Member States to promote national, regional and international efforts to improve border and customs control in order to prevent and detect the movement of terrorists and the illicit trafficking of weapons, in accordance with international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law.   

H.E. Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan, welcomed participants at the opening session chaired by Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism. Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the audience via a video message.

SRSG Natalia Gherman, in her opening remarks, stressed that UNRCCA, as a special political mission with a regional mandate, brings preventive diplomacy approach to address border security and management challenges. This is particularly important taking into consideration that border security starts well before borders and it is closely linked to political will, trust building and prevention of radicalization.  

Taking into consideration that the conference took place in Tajikistan, particular attention was paid to the Central Asian region and the situation along the border with Afghanistan. High level officials from the region shared information about the efforts of their respective countries to strengthen border related security, including through repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration of foreign terrorist fighters and their family members.

More than 800 participants representing Members States, regional organizations, civil society groups, think-tanks and academia took active part in exchanging views and ideas. They endorsed the Dushanbe Declaration calling all interested parties to join efforts to improve border security while promoting cross-border cooperation.