TASHKENT, Uzbekistan – from 9 to 11 September, the UNODC Regional Office for Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iran and Pakistan hosted a crucial three-day training on “Cybercrime prevention: From Theory to Practice.” This event, held in Tashkent, marked a significant milestone in the UNODC and UNDP joint programme to safeguard the digital well-being of young people in Uzbekistan.
Funded by the UN Trust Fund for Human Security, the joint programme on “Strengthening resilience of youth to cybercrime and digital violence in Uzbekistan” is a comprehensive, people-centred initiative. Its overarching purpose is to create a secure digital environment for young people by fostering digital literacy, promoting internet safety, and mitigating the complex and growing challenges posed by cyber-dependent and cyber-enabled crime.
The training was a key component of this programme, designed to equip law enforcement and other relevant professionals with modern tools and knowledge to effectively prevent and address cybercrime against youth. The course was organised in close cooperation with the UNODC Regional Centre for Combatting Cybercrime in Doha, Qatar (UNRCCC), which was established in June 2023 as part of the UNODC Global Programme on Cybercrime.
The training course was structured to integrated both theoretical and practical aspects, with a strong focus on hand-on application. Participants engaged in a series of sessions covering critical topics, including:
- Global and local Internet and cybercrime trends: understanding the evolving landscape of digital threats.
- Personal safety on the internet and cyber-hygiene habits: building fundamental skills for safer online behaviour.
- Life skills, cyber ethics and netiquette: promoting responsible digital citizenship.
- Addressing specific threats: in-depth sessions on cyberbullying, online reputation (digital footprint), misinformation, and severe crimes such as online child abuse and exploitation, grooming, and sextortion.
- Cybercrime prevention strategies: developing comprehensive strategies for dissemination and implementation.
The practical methodology allowed trainees to gain a wide vision of cybercrimes and end-to-end experience through interactive group exercises, individual assignments, and hand-on scenarios based on real-life cases.
Participants have strengthened the knowledge and skills to disseminate prevention strategies within their respective agencies taking due considerations of human security approaches. This directly contributes to the programme’s key objectives: strengthening national institutional capacity and enhancing youth resilience against digital threats.
The joint UNODC and UNDP programme is a prime example of a prevention-oriented response that empowers individuals and strengthens institutional frameworks. By building a unified front against online crime, this initiative is helping to ensure that the youth of Uzbekistan can live and participate in the digital space in freedom and dignity.
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