On 28 November, the 4^th Regional Steering Group (RSG) meeting was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Representatives from the border and customs services, foreign ministries, and migration management agencies of each Central Asian (CA) country as project beneficiaries together with BOMCA Consortium partners and representatives from the Delegations of the European Union in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan jointly assessed the Programme’s achievements and challenges to date and discussed the work plan and country priorities for the next year.

During the meeting, delegates discussed their countries’ efforts on BOMCA implementation, assessed developments and progress, and exchanged experience about the progress achieved and challenges being faced in terms of the implementation of activities. The Steering Group also determined the main directions and priorities for 2019.

Special emphasis of the meeting  was made on developments of the 9^th phase at the national and regional levels during Programme duration. Beneficiaries in their turn provided feedback of the status of recommendations, developed by BOMCA in 2016-2018 and informed which recommendations have been adopted into practice and which could be considered as potentially useful in the nearest future.

To date, starting from June 2015, over 2600 beneficiaries from five Central Asian countries have participated in 181 events with various different scopes – from national and regional workshops to technical assistance missions, on-the-job trainings and study visits to EU Member States and Central Asian countries. In 2019, the 9th phase of BOMCA intends to conduct up to 24 activities.