Joining efforts to ensure successful police reform - OSCE and Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry hold donor co-ordination meeting

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry held on 12 March 2019 in Dushanbe a roundtable discussion with high-level representatives of the international donor community to raise funds for the successful implementation of police reform in Tajikistan.

The meeting also served to take stock of the steps already undertaken in the reform process and upcoming priorities.

Tajikistan’s Interior Minister, Colonel-General Ramazon Rahimzoda, Acting Officer in Charge of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe Gerrit Zach, senior-ranking officials from Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry, representatives of embassies and international organizations in Tajikistan, as well chairpersons of the Public Councils on Police Reform participated at the meeting.

“Priorities of the reform include new police uniforms, as Tajikistan is the only country in which police still wears the old USSR uniforms,” said Minister of Interior Colonel-General Rahimzoda. “Another important point is the finalization of an electronic crime registry. International support will be needed to implement these reform plans.”

"The Tajik government is in the driving seat for a successful implementation of the 2014-2020 Police Reform Programme, but joint efforts are key,” said Zach. “The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, as the main international partner of Tajikistan in the field of police reform, will continue to work with the Ministry of the Interior and international donors to establish a modern police force, including decentralization and bringing the police closer to the citizens.”