Fusion Cells Analyst Training course
From 22 March to 1 April 2022, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) delivered the second round of its two-week “Analyst course” to intelligence and analysis units and personnel from national fusion centres in Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, and the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC). The course provided guidance to support Fusion Centre staff in turning information into actionable intelligence - information that has been analysed to determine its meaning and relevance - using the intelligence cycle. The first part of the course walked participants through this eight-stage cycle: direction, collection, evaluation, collation, analysis, production, dissemination, and decision. The second part of the course covered threat identification, analysis, and threat assessments.
This course is part of a comprehensive building-block approach brought forth by the Global Fusion Cells Programme, which ties into a more extensive set of foundational skills, developed in accordance with international standards, that must be available to all relevant fusion-centre and counter-terrorism staff. It is the fifth course in the Global Fusion Cells Programme’s curriculum.
Background
The 3-year Global Fusion Cells Programme was launched in January 2020 and is co-funded by the United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund (UNPDF) and the governments of Portugal and Qatar. UNOCT Special Projects Section implements the programme in cooperation with CTED, UNPOL, CAERT, and Interpol. Current programme beneficiaries include Ghana, Botswana, Uganda, Togo, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the regional body SADC. The United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) Fusion Cells programme provides specialist technical assistance and expertise to help beneficiary countries develop legislative and institutional frameworks that support robust, relevant, and fit-for-purpose national level interagency coordination mechanisms or ‘Fusion Cells/Centres’, to address the threat of terrorism. Such mechanisms strengthen intelligence and investigation and can thereby help ensure appropriate preparedness as well as contribute to a more effective response to and recovery from terrorist attacks.
