HALT Project - Achievements in 2021

Project Halting Arms and Lawbreaking Trade in Bosnia and Herzegovina (HALT) commenced in February 2020 as a joint project of UNDP in BiH and UNODC with an overall objective to further increase safety and security within and beyond the Western Balkans through targeted actions aimed at improving BiH capacities to combat illicit trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).

The HALT project is funded by Germany, the UK Government, France, the Kingdom of the Netherland, Sweden, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) Office. Project activities are being implemented in cooperation with the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ITA BiH) as the project's main beneficiary. In addition, certain activities within the project include other institutions and agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina as beneficiaries, including Border Police (BP), State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), BiH Ministry of Security (MoS), BiH Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MoFTER), BiH Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC) and three postal operators in BiH. The project has been extended until 30 September 2022.

Project activities are being implemented in cooperation with the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ITA BiH) as a main beneficiary of the project while certain activities within the project include other institutions and agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina as beneficiaries, including Border Police (BP), State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), BiH Ministry of Security (MoS), BiH Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MoFTER), BiH Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC) and three postal operators in BiH.

HALT Project gallery of photos

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HALT UNDP-ITA-Montenegro's Administration for Customs and Revenues meeting in Podgorica

Despite facing numerous challenges, caused primarily by worsened epidemiological situation related to COVID-19, especially in spring and fall 2021, UNDP successfully managed to continue implementing the HALT Project through the organization and implementation of numerous activities in 2021. First, it should be noted that in February 2021, UNDP organized a train-the-trainers session in Teslić for 13 trainers from ITA on draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regulating the management of illegal SALW trafficking by the ITA as well as a practical part of the training on the use of specialized equipment for detection of SALW and radiation sources. Subsequently, in close cooperation with the ITA, UNDP managed to organize 25 one-day trainings in 11 different cities, resulting in 617 ITA trained officials from all 4 ITA Regional Centers. Furthermore, UNDP organized the meeting of the Working Group at the Strategic Level, gathering representatives from ITA, MoS, MOFTER, MTC on the subject of illegal SAWL trafficking. UNDP also organized two meetings of the Working group at the Operational Level comprising of representatives from ITA, BP, and SIPA to finalize a draft scenario for joint exercises aimed at detection and prosecution of illegal SALW to be executed in close cooperation among these three agencies and a prosecutor office in the upcoming period.

Moreover, UNDP organized three workshops on "Improvement of Position of Women in the ITA" covering three ITA Regional Centers with the participation of around 70 ITA employees and lecturers coming from the Network of Female Police Officials in BiH, BiH Agency from Gender Equality, and the MoS. These workshops resulted in a discovery that the subject matter of gender (in)equality and gender-based discrimination, as well as sexual harassment, remain insufficiently explored and addressed in the ITA despite the fact that women are well represented in the ITA employment structure, crossing the minimum 40% employment threshold set by the Law on Gender Equality in BiH. Furthermore, it turned out that these workshops were helpful for ITA employees to raise awareness on the subjects mentioned above, map problems, and propose solutions to issues identified.

Finally, UNDP organized the meeting in Podgorica, Montenegro, in November between representatives of ITA and Montenegro's Administration for Customs and Revenues to exchange best practices and further improve cooperation between cooperation the institutions in light of HALT project activities.

UNDP, through project HALT, also managed to purchase part of the equipment for the ITA by delivering 12 endoscopes needed for successful detection of illegal SALW and combatting illegal SALW trade in general, which is in line with BiH SALW Strategy 2021-2024.

UNDP plans to continue implementing the remaining activities in the HALT project to achieve the project's overall objective: "Further increased safety and security within and beyond the Western Balkans through targeted actions aimed at improving BiH capacities to combat illicit SALW trafficking."