The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) is organizing a two-week Train-the-Trainers Course on Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) for Anglophone GIABA Member States under the ECOWAS Counter Terrorism Action Plan (2020-2024)
The training which holds between March 11 and 22, at the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS), Abuja, is aimed at building the operational capacity of counter-financing of terrorism specialized institutions and provide basic training material for the CFT-training institutes of member states.
The training will also engage learners and create a supportive learning environment for CFT actors; create a greater ability to customize training by teaching participants how to adapt training sessions to meet the specific needs and learning styles of their audience.
The course is also aimed at strengthening the expertise and technical skills of relevant officials in the detection and investigation of complex cases of financial crime, particularly in connection with the financing of terrorism.
In September 2019, the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS had in its extraordinary session in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, directed the development of the ECOWAS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan, the Component 6 of which is Counter-Terrorist Financing.
Under this priority area, particular emphasis is placed on enhancing the policy on the fight against terrorism financing; improving the technical compliance and efficiency of national arrangements to combat terrorism financing and its predicate offenses.
GIABA Secretariat had in February, in Abuja, organized a workshop to develop the Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Curriculum and Training Modules.
“The present Train-the-Trainers course is therefore part of concerted efforts to ensure that the West African region achieves the objectives of the ECOWAS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan”, GIABA said.
The Course which will be delivered by the GIABA Secretariat and regional and international experts will have about fifty-one participants drawn from relevant authorities from GIABA Anglophone member States in attendance.
The training will cover three main areas which include, understanding the TF issue and CFT frameworks; improving the teaching skills and making effective use of visual materials.
“At the end of the Course, it is expected that there would emerge a crop of highly trained experts who would go on to train about 150 operational authorities involved in the fight against terrorism and terrorism financing in West Africa”, the organizers said.
