Academic Program
February 24-28, 2025
English | Français
Schedule
Syllabus
Discussion Group Exercise
Executive Summary
Opening Remarks
Presented by:
- Ambassador Claire Pierangelo
- General Lala Monja Dalphin Sahivelo
- Ambassador Robert Scott
- Dr. Assis Malaquias
Session 1 • Monday, February 24, 2025
Overview and Nature of Threat: Transnational Organized Crime Across Land and Sea
Objectives:
- Understand the links between transnational organized crime on land and at sea.
- Understand trends in transnational organized crime across the Western Indian Ocean.
- Identify the most prevalent criminal actors, the criminal markets they operate in, and the region’s resilience sources.
Presented by:
- Mr. Bill Moeller (Moderator)
- Mr. Metse Ralephenya
- Dr. Carina Bruwer
Slides: English | Français - Captain (Retired) Mark Blaine
Slides: English | Français
Session 2 • Monday, February 24, 2025
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing & Transnational Organized Crime
Objectives:
- Discuss maritime crimes, particularly IUU fishing, and its outsized impact on African states’ economy and security in the Western Indian Ocean.
- Understand criminal actors involved in IUU fishing, and state of resilience to IUU fishing in the region.
- Identify lessons learned and opportunities for countering IUU fishing in the region.
Presented by:
- Senior Captain Charles Bamele (Moderator)
- Ms. Colleen Devlin
Slides: English | Français - Dr. Saleh Yahya
- Brigadier General (Retired) John Waweru
Session 3 • Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Overview of National and Regional Maritime Security Strategy Development
Objectives:
- Analyze the challenges and opportunities for developing integrated national maritime security strategies.
- Discuss lessons learned from national maritime security strategy development in the region.
- Assess progress towards the development of a regional maritime security strategy.
Presented by:
- Mr. Metse Ralephenya (Moderator)
- Major (Retired) George Nyamoko Okong’o
Slides: English | Français - Rear Admiral Dieudonne Mamy-Rakotomanga
- Mr. Kiruja Micheni
Session 4 • Tuesday, February 25, 2025
National-Level Responses: Coordination (Madagascar, Mauritius, and Kenya)
Objectives:
- Assess national efforts towards improved interagency coordination to counter TOC across land and sea.
- Identify strategic approaches for enhancing coordination among maritime stakeholders and other relevant government actors focused on countering illicit activities.
Presented by:
- Dr. Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood (Moderator)
- Commander Rakoto Andrianaivonirina
Slides: English | Français - Mr. Borges Nhamirre
Session 5 • Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Regional-Level Responses
Objectives:
- Assess capacity for the Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC) and the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) to coordinate information exchange/sharing and joint operations at sea.
- Distill lessons learned in building trust and coordination across national and regional stakeholders as a basis for timely and accurate information sharing to counter illicit flows across the Western Indian Ocean.
- Identify specific tools and mechanisms—such as secure communication platforms, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and interagency agreements—that can enhance coordination and information sharing among national agencies and between regional centers.
Presented by:
- Mr. Martin Ewi (Moderator)
- Major Raj Mohabeer
Slides: English | Français - Mr. Christopher Jilo
Slides: English | Français - Ms. Pascaline Alexandre
Slides: English | Français
Session 6 • Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Assessing International Engagements in the Western Indian Ocean
Objectives:
- Understand the international community’s strategic interest in the Western Indian Ocean.
- Assess the impact of the international community’s presence on maritime criminal activities, particularly TOC at sea.
- Understand the international community’s outlook for the Western Indian Ocean.
Presented by:
- Mr. Hassani Ahamada Soilihi (Moderator)
- Mr. Bill Moeller
Slides: English | Français - Mr. Kiruja Micheni
Slides: English | Français - Ms. Anum Khan
Session 7 • Thursday, February 27, 2025
Counter Transnational Organized Crime Collaboration: Prosecuting Maritime Illicit Activities
Objectives:
- Assess legal frameworks at the international and national levels to support effective criminal prosecution of illicit criminal activities, particularly, narcotics trafficking and human smuggling/trafficking, across the Western Indian Ocean.
- Provide detailed overview of how United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Maritime Crime Programme Indian Ocean West (UNODC GMCP) assists member states in achieving legal finish of maritime crimes, particularly narcotics trafficking and human smuggling/trafficking.
- Distill lessons from navigating the unique legal and logistical challenges of prosecuting maritime crimes, including evidence gathering, chain-of-custody, mutual legal assistance and extradition.
Presented by:
- Ms. Harriet Njoki Mboce HSC (Moderator)
- Ms. Pooja Bissoonauthsing
- Mr. Vincent Monda
Slides: English | Français
Session 8 • Friday, February 28, 2025
Counter Transnational Organized Crime Collaboration: Maritime Surveillance and Narcotics Interdiction
Objectives:
- Provide an overview of a maritime narcotics interdiction case conducted in the Western Indian Ocean, taking participants through the different national and regional agencies involved in coordinating maritime surveillance and the interdiction process, including anti-narcotics and maritime law enforcement agencies.
- Discuss the authorities, mandate, rules of engagement, roles, responsibilities, and chain of command across different agencies involved in the interdiction case.
- Distill lessons learned on navigating and overcoming complex jurisdictional arrangements and institutional barriers to coordinating surveillance and maritime narcotics interdiction.
Presented by:
- Captain Cyrille Atonfack (Moderator)
- Commander Nelson Delicieux
Slides: English | Français - Dr. Carina Bruwer
Slides: English | Français
Session 9 • Friday, February 28, 2025
Key Takeaways and Next Steps
Objectives:
- Identify key takeaways from the seminar and the brief backs delivered by the discussion groups.
- Engage in a roundtable discussion on the feasibility of the proposals delivered by the discussion groups during their brief backs.
- Catalyze actionable next steps towards improved coordination among participating states to counter transnational organized crime across land and sea.
Presented by:
- Dr. Assis Malaquias (Moderator)
- Mr. Martin Ewi
- Mr. Kiruja Micheni
- Major Raj Mohabeer
- Mr. Christopher Jilo