16-18 December 2015, Uganda- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Security Sector Program (SSP) in partnership and collaboration with Global Counter Terrorism Forum (GCTF) organized a three (3) days workshop on Criminalizing Terrorist Financing as a Good Practice in Prevention, Investigation and Prosecution of Terrorism Cases in the Horn and Easter Africa Region.

 

This workshop is the fourth, in a series of training workshops that was jointly organized by IGAD SSP and GCTF under the theme: “Building Capacity and Promoting the Rabat Memorandum on Good Practices for Effective Counterterrorism Practice in the Criminal Justice Sector in the Horn of Africa Region.”

Officials from all IGAD member States and Tanzania Institutions such as the National Intelligence Services, law enforcement agencies, Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Immigration, Ministry of Justice, Financial regulatory agencies, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were in attendance. Regional and International experts made presentations and shared their experiences with the participants to enrich the overall objective of the workshop.

The workshop discussions sought to address the challenges faced by chain institutions involved in International Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT). It also explored international anti-money laundering and countering terrorism legal regimes and initiatives; regional strategies, mechanisms for combating money laundering and financing terrorism; challenges faced by private financial institutions in implementing AML/CFT legal regimes, among many others the important role these institutions play in the transfer of funds, the financial institutions were urged to take the lead in the fight against terrorism.

The following topics and more were focused on gearing the discussions, case studies and practical examples over the course of the three days enabling participants share experiences of their respective countries:

  • AML/CFT Legal Regimes and Initiatives
  • Regional Strategy and Mechanisms for Combating Money laundering and the Financing of Terrorism
  • Challenges in Preventing and Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism
  • Challenges Faced by Private Financial Institutions in Implementing AML/CFT Legal Regimes
  • Role of Domestic Legal Systems in Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism
  • Mobile Money Systems: Challenges and Opportunities in Relation to Countering Financing of Terrorism

(END)