OSCE Border Management Staff College completes its 29th Staff Course for Women Leaders

The OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) completed its 29th Staff Course for Women Leaders on 19 July 2021. The course was convened via video teleconferencing.

Twenty-three mid-to-senior level female officers from border security agencies, such as narcotics control, border police, customs, took part in the course. Participants represented Belarus, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Spain, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, and Ukraine.

“We invited only female officers as an effort to balance the gender equality in the security sector, especially in the border management institutions,” said Valeriu Chiveri, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, who highlighted the importance of the course.

The four-week course included seven modules that presented the OSCE’s approach to efficient border security and management and covered topics including border security and management models, transnational threats, risk assessment, cybersecurity, trafficking in human beings, trade facilitation integrity, and anti-corruption. The course also provided multinational and inter-agency networking opportunities for the participants. 

Preyanuch Leuhatong, Director of the Narcotics Control Board in the Foreign Affairs Bureau of Thailand, and a graduate of the course, said that she found the acquired knowledge particularly useful for her leadership role, and plans to apply the skill she gained in risk management and cybersecurity to her organization.

A roundtable discussion on border security and management during the COVID-19 pandemic was also organized as part of the curriculum. In addition, the participants complemented the course by conducting presentations on experiences and best practices of their countries and agencies in countering various cross-border threats.

The BMSC launched its pilot Staff Course for Women Leaders in May 2014 and continues offering the all-women course once a year.