OSTIA, Italy

On 29 September - 3 October 2025, UNRCCA in partnership with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the Guardia di Finanza Economic and Financial Police School of Italy, with financial support of the People’s Republic of China through the United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund (UNPDF), organized a training course for Central Asian nationals on countering illicit financial flows and the financing of terrorism. The training course was held in Ostia, Italy, and brought together 15 participants from all five Central Asian states, along with a representative from the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) - a long-standing partner of the United Nations and an organization in which Italy holds observer status.

The curriculum developed and delivered by the Guardia di Finanza School covered essential topics related to countering the financing of terrorism. These included HUMINT (Human Intelligence), international intelligence sharing, investigations into money laundering, as well as technologies and operational tactics involving crypto assets and the dark web. The programme also addressed cooperation with financial intelligence units, the use of international databases, and the targeted application of financial sanctions.

Additionally, it examined the non-profit sector and the potential risks of its exploitation for terrorist financing purposes as well as collaboration between the public and private sectors to leverage the combined resources, expertise and intelligence to improve anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism efforts.

Participants had the opportunity to explore concrete examples drawn from the extensive experience of Italian law enforcement agencies, particularly the Financial Intelligence Unit of Italy, in combating transnational organized crime and the mafia, with a focus on disrupting the financial networks that support extremist and terrorist groups. A study tour was conducted at the Central Investigative Service for Organized Crime, established by the Guardia di Finanza in Rome in 1991 and responsible for coordinating investigations and conducting comprehensive analyses on organized crime using internally developed information technology tools.

This training course was part of the Counter-Terrorism Early Warning Network initiative within the framework of the joint UNOCT/UNRCCA project “Towards a Comprehensive Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia – Phase IV”.