On February 27- March 01 a Regional Training of Trainers on profiling at border checkpoints was held in Almaty in cooperation with the OSCE Programme Office and the INL Bureau (US Embassy). The event gathered lecturers of training institutions from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

The BOMCA programme has historically attached a great importance to building effective institutional partnerships and dynamic collaborative processes between the training institutions of CA and EU border security-related agencies. To this effect, CA Customs and BG training institutions Consortia were launched at the initiative of the BOMCA Programme in 2011, as a forum for cooperation towards the development of a harmonised and efficient training system for Central Asia Customs and BG staff. Based on a list of educational topics jointly defined during project Consortium meetings, BOMCA supports the exchange of trainers between BG and Customs training institutions.

The main goal of the activity was to introduce participants to different teaching methods for the profiling topic and to exchange good practices among CA countries. Participants learned about the Kazakh approach in this area and reflected on their experience in delivery training on the topic. As a result, joint recommendations will be elaborated regarding enhancing the quality of education and professional development of border guarding training institutions personnel in the area of profiling teaching.

Through theoretical and practical exercises, participants gained insights into the approach of their Kazakh colleagues in teaching about topics such as operational psycho diagnosis, lie detection, talk analysis, interviewing methods etc. The trainees also participated in a tour of the Border Service Academy of State Security Committee of Kazakhstan and observed the training models of border checkpoints and examination polygons.