DUSHANBE, May 25, 2015, Asia-Plus — A high-level discussion on drugs threat will take place in Dushanbe on May 27, according to the Drug Control Agency under the President of Tajikistan (DCA).
An official source at the DCA says the event will discuss issues related to consolidation of efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Chiefs of counternarcotics agencies of Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, the United Kingdom, Italy, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, China, India, the United States, Iran and Uzbekistan as well as senior representatives of a number of international organizations, including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Their Precursors (CARICC), the OSCE, the European Union, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), and the CIS Bureau of Coordination of the Fight against Organized Crime have been invited to participate in the conference.
The conference participants are expected to discuss issues related to expansion of cooperation with Afghanistan on addressing the drugs threat problems and the current drug situation in Afghanistan. They will also exchanged views on achievements made in countering narcotics and problems the countries of the region face in countering drug trafficking.
We will recall that the 9th meeting of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sub-regional Drug Control Cooperation took place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on May 4-5 to discuss the current drug situation in the region and the new program for Central Asia 2015-2019.
The 9th meeting adopted a Declaration that stressed the importance and continued relevance of the Memorandum of Understanding on Sub-regional Drug Control Cooperation in contributing to enhanced regional and international cooperation to better counter trafficking of drugs and related illicit financial flows, especially within the framework of shared responsibility. It also reiterated the commitment of the MOU Parties to highlight the importance of robust regional and international cooperation as a contribution to consultations taking place worldwide in the context of the preparatory process leading up to the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS).
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sub-regional Drug Control Cooperation was signed by the governments of five Central Asian countries and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in May 1996. The Russian Federation and AKDN joined the MoU in 1998 and Azerbaijan joined it in 2001.
