Integrated Cooperation on Explosive Hazards Programme - ICExH Programme - Phase 3

Project Info
Locations
Beneficiary
OSCE Region , Tajikistan
Timeline
1 April 2021 - 31 March 2024
Gender Marker
G1
Team

Project Implementation Team consists of the folowing members: (1) Project Assistant (G‐5 level), one Senior Project Assistant (G‐6 level), one (1) National EOD Training Officer (NP1 level) and one (1) National Quality Management Officer (NP1 level) in support of the enhanced transition of project activities to national ownership. Additionally, the Project continues to employ one (1) International Programme Officer (S2 level).

Partners

This project envisages the following partnership framework:

  • The Memorandum of Understanding on the OSCE extra‐ budgetary project “Integrated Co‐operation on Explosive Hazards Programme” was signed on November 9, 2017. This Memorandum consolidated the partnership and co‐operation efforts of the Ministry of Defence and the OSCE to establish the Regional Explosive Hazards Training Centre (REHTC) of the Ministry of Defence in Chimteppa and to strengthen further cooperation between the partners; 
  • Ensure that all interested OSCE Central Asian participating States and Afghanistan will participate in the project with their responsible agencies, e.g. Ministries of Defence, Ministries of Internal Affairs, the Protection and Rescue/Disaster Preparedness and Response authorities, national Mine Action authorities. These agencies will be included in the project on a technical / expert level;
  • OSCE Missions in the Central Asia region will through its regular contacts with the national authorities of the Central Asian participating States support the project implementation as a channel of communication, and
  • The OSCE POiD will work in close cooperation with the PC and FSC as well as the OSCE Secretariat’s Conflict Prevention Centre (FSC Support Unit, Policy Support Unit ‐ CA Desk) as well as other relevant thematic units within the Secretariat such as Trans National Threat Department ‐ Action against Terrorism. 
Objective

The key objective of the ICExH programme is to provide targeted capacity development and technical assistance in reducing and responding to Explosive Hazards as well as to foster dialogue through technical cooperation in Central Asia. The project objective is: To enhance Tajikistan’s response capacity in the domain of Explosive Hazards in co‐operation with other participating States in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

The project also contibutes to the following Unified Budget Programme Objective: To support Tajikistan in the implementation of its politico‐military commitments.

 

Outcomes

The outcome of this project is to provide support to the Republic of Tajikistan in developing its sustainable residual risk mechanisms and in that strengthening the response to explosive hazards in its current context and especially in a post 2025 context. The expected outcome of Phase 3 is strengthened technical abilities of staff according to international standards and provided technical operational resources for sustainable residual risk management. By the end of 2023, the project aims to be fully institutionalised under the MoD RT, where MoD RT is recognised as a Centre of excellence for trainings in Explosive Hazards.

Budget
Activities

Project envisages following three activities: 

Activity 1.1 Development of the customized training programmes and execution of the multi‐lateral comprehensive Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) courses for the interested governmental institutions and NGOs in CA pS and Afghanistan.

Sub‐activity 1.1.1 Preparation and organization of one (1) multi‐lateral EOD Level 1 Course for up to 16 trainees provided by the relevant governmental authorities and non‐governmental organisations (NGO) in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan through training, mentoring and monitoring approaches.

Sub‐activity 1.1.2 Preparation and organization of one (1) multi‐lateral EOD Level 2 Course for up to 16 trainees provided by the relevant governmental authorities and NGOs in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan through training, mentoring and monitoring approaches.

Sub‐activity 1.1.3 Preparation and organization of one (1) multi‐lateral EOD Level 3 Course for up to 16 trainees provided by the relevant governmental authorities and NGOs in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan through training, mentoring and monitoring approaches.

Sub‐activity 1.1.4 Preparation and organization of three (3) sets of multi‐lateral PSSM Courses for up to 48 trainees provided by the relevant governmental authorities and NGOs in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan through training and mentoring approaches.

Sub‐activity 1.1.5 Preparation and organization of two (2) multi‐lateral EOD technical specialisation courses, one metal detector specialisation ToT course and one advanced search techniques ToT course (for up to 32 trainees provided by the relevant governmental authorities and NGO in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan through training, mentoring and monitoring approaches.

Sub‐activity 1.1.6 Preparation and organization of up to six (6) multi‐lateral EOD simulation exercises for up to 96 participants from CA pS and Afghanistan provided by the relevant governmental authorities and NGO in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan through on the job simulation tasks, mentoring and monitoring approaches.

Sub‐activity 1.1.7 Preparation and organization of up to two (2) sets of multi‐lateral EOD level 1‐3 refresher courses for up to 32 trainees provided by the relevant governmental authorities and non‐governmental organisations (NGO) in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan through training, mentoring and monitoring approaches.

Sub‐activity 1.1.8 Support to institutionalisation and transition of training programme to national ownership.

Activity 1.2 Development of customized training programme and execution of the multi‐lateral Explosive Hazards Awareness and Reduction courses for the interested governmental institutions in CA pS and Afghanistan.

Sub‐activity 1.2.1 Preparation and organizations of up to three (3) Explosive Hazards Awareness and Reduction course on C‐IED for up to 48 participants provided by the relevant governmental authorities in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan.

Activity 1.3 Development of customized training programme and execution of Train‐of‐Trainer courses for the REHTC and interested governmental institutions in CA pS and Afghanistan.

Sub‐activity 1.3.1 Preparation and organizations of three (3) Training Management / Train‐of‐Trainer (ToT) courses for up to 48 trainees provided by the relevant governmental authorities in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan.

Activity 1.4 Development of customized training programme and execution of the multi‐lateral Medical Support to EOD Operations Courses for the interested governmental institutions in CA pS and Afghanistan.

Sub‐activity 1.4.1 Preparation and organizations of three (3) Medical Support to EOD Operations Courses for up to 36 specialists provided by the relevant governmental authorities in the interested CA pS and Afghanistan.

Activity 1.5 Programme management of training courses and capacity building initiatives for the interested governmental institutions in CA pS and Afghanistan.

Sub‐activity 1.5.1 Development of the Terms of Reference and employing the Programme Officer to support development, regional coordination and implementation of training courses and capacity building initiatives.

Activity 1.6 Execution of the internal mentoring and validation, external validation and accreditation of the multi‐ lateral training courses and schools in the field of EOD, Explosive Hazards Awareness and Reduction and Training Management.

Activity 2.1 Facilitation of expert networking and organization of exchange programme visits for the national technical experts and practitioners from the relevant governmental institutions in interested OSCE CA pS and Afghanistan.

Sub‐activity 2.1.1 Maintaining the network of point of contacts of the national technical experts and practitioners from the relevant governmental institutions in interested OSCE CA pS and Afghanistan.

Sub‐activity 2.1.2 Organization of three (3) exchange programme visits in the field of comprehensive Explosive Hazards Reduction and Response for the national technical experts and practitioners from the relevant governmental institutions in interested OSCE CA pS and Afghanistan in support of training, mentoring and monitoring approaches foreseen within the project cycle.

Sub‐activity 2.1.3 Organization of three (3) international training board (ITB) meetings of the regional training programme.

Activity 2.2 Set‐up and work of the ICExH programme Cooperation Support Cell (CSC) within the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe.

Sub‐activity 2.2.1 Organization of the operational ICExH programme’s CSC with securing office space, technical and human resources as well as setting up of the organisational and management structures and processes.

Sub‐activity 2.2.2 Development and maintenance of the independent ICExH programme web‐page.

Sub‐activity 2.2.3 Development and distribution of the ICExH programme’s publication materials to the project stakeholders. Printing of training manuals, other publications and stationary supplies to be provided for project courses, visibility and implementation.

Activity 2.3 Execution of the audit and evaluation of the project.

Sub‐activity 2.3.1 Development of the Terms of Reference for the Audit of the project activities, contracting of the Auditing service provider by the OSCE POiD and execution of the Audit by selected provider.

Activity 3.1: Upgrade of Explosive Hazards training and support facilities at the current location of the Engineering‐Demining Regiment of the MoD RT (Upgrades of training facilities at the REHTC/Chimteppa)

Risks

Taking into account the impact of respiratory pandemic SARS‐CoV‐2 the project activities have been affected in 2020 and 2021.

Background And Justification
Background

The Central Asian states and Afghanistan face shared challenges and concerns regarding Explosive Hazards. Their origin can be found in the past and/or ongoing conflicts; mistreatment, abandonment, neglect as well as criminal and terrorist actions. Central Asia as a whole remains affected by the common problem of Explosive Hazards; however, the extent of these risks and the corresponding concerns differs from state to state.

Justification

The ICExH project intervention areas have been developed to correspond to the national and/or regional requirements in addressing Explosive Hazards threats on the ground. The intervention areas have remained valid since the inception of the project in mid‐2013. Before the induction of phase 1 of this project there was no capabilities to safely conduct EOD operations according to international standards in the Republic of Tajikistan or CA countries. Furthermore, there is a general trend noticed in the wider region, which indicates strengthening of national (and/or regional) capacities and cooperation in Explosive Hazards reduction and response, not only as a part of humanitarian mine action, but also under different fora, such as reducing threats to national security from terrorists and insurgents, Confidence and Security Building Measure (CSBM) and (UN) peace‐keeping operations.

Over time the project has evolved from a narrow capacity building intervention (as foreseen at the commencement of the project in mid‐2013) to a more complex intervention with a concrete project ownership transition plan in place. The latter is reflected in the project’s training‐mentoring‐monitoring approach as well as development of formalized training institution(s), e.g. “Regional Explosive Hazards Training Centre of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Tajikistan” (REHTC of the MoD RT). The Phase 2 of the Project was specifically orientated towards constructing the REHTC and supporting the establishment and organisation of the training programme under MoD RT.

The comprehensive EOD training programme ‐ the “flag ship” of the project – already gained wider regional recognition currently guaranteed by the presence of U.S ARCENT instructors, training certification of the TNMAC and the OSCE POiD training management practices, which are in line with international best practices. With the ICExH project entering in a more mature stage, the exchange of experiences and best practices frameworks can gradually become more consolidated under the ownership of the MoD RT and its objectives more clearly outlined; for example, aiming at a more formalized cooperation in military education among Central Asian states and Afghanistan in the field of Explosive Hazards.

The training institution(s) development, in particular “REHTC of the MoD RT”, is a complex set of measures indispensable to make the ICExH project sustainable. The project is gradually progressing with the plan to anchor “REHTC of MoD RT” within the organic structure of the MoD RT, other aspects of training centre ‐ physical (equipment and assets), organisational and functional responsibilities, human resources, procedural and doctrinal aspects of its use – can be clearly determined accordingly. The phase 3 project extension would enable the MoD RT and the OSCE POiD to accurately outline the training institution development roadmap with a realistic transition timeline currently foreseen by the end of 2023.

Even though the origin of the ICExH project stems from RT necessity to address Explosive Hazards issues in a cross‐border context, the prospects and implications of CSBM aspects of the project – via enhanced and continuous technical explosive hazards regional coordination and dialogue – has been widely recognized by other participating countries as well, such as Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The OSCE POiD and/or host country would further continue to capitalize on the success of the ICExH project as a regional CSBM.

SDGs
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