From 30 September to 4 October 2024, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) conducted its third "Train-the-Trainer" session for instructors from the national security and law enforcement training institutions of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The session focused on countering radiological and nuclear (RN) trafficking through an intelligence-based approach. The training was facilitated by the Nuclear Security Centre of Excellence under the State Border Guard Service of Lithuania and was held at the Medininkai State Border Guard School.
As part of Phase II of the CONTACT – Black Sea project, 18 participants from Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are working to integrate CONTACT training materials into their institutions' continuous training programs. During the session, participants practiced delivering theoretical modules and tabletop exercises based on the CONTACT curriculum, which will be incorporated in their institutions' training programs. They also participated in practical field activities simulating various stages of intelligence-led operations to counter RN trafficking.
In addition to the training, participants visited Lithuania’s largest and recently modernized Medininkai border control point on the Lithuanian-Belarusian road transport route, as well as the training facilities of the State Border Guard School. Observers from Lithuanian nuclear security organizations presented their national detection architecture and shared best practices in combating RN trafficking.
UNICRI will continue its engagement with the participating training institutions in the upcoming stages of the project, which will include the delivery of the first training courses by the trained instructors at the national level. Currently, courses based on the CONTACT training modules are being delivered by the State Security Service of Georgia. Additionally, the Stefan cel Mare Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova has developed and approved a qualification-raising course, which is ready to be delivered upon request of the agencies under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova by instructors trained through the CONTACT project.
Since September 2022, UNICRI has been implementing Phase II of the “CONTACT - Black Sea” project, an extension of the original initiative. Among the activities within the framework of this project, it is planned to engage with the national training institutions to ensure the sustainability of counter-RN trafficking training and to further enhance the capabilities of state security and law enforcement officials by organizing additional advanced training sessions to reinforce and consolidate the expertise and skills of project participants. The project is jointly funded by the United Kingdom Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA).
