For information only - not an official document
UNIS/NAR/1234
24 March 2015
VIENNA, 24 March (UN Information Service) - In a meeting today with the President of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, underscored the excellent collaboration between UNODC and the Central Asian country on the challenges of illicit drugs and organized crime.
"Kyrgyzstan is on the frontline in the global campaign against the opium flow from Afghanistan. The country played a significant role in promoting UNODC's regional programme for Afghanistan and neighbouring countries and in our Afghanistan-Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan (AKT) initiative that leverages greater cooperation among the three countries to counter the drug traffickers," said Mr. Fedotov.
UNODC's AKT initiative held its first ministerial meeting in 2012. It is used to enhance cooperation and develop measures to counter drug trafficking and precursor smuggling along the so-called Northern route. The AKT also promotes joint operations as well as information sharing and is modelled on UNODC's successful Triangular Initiative between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
The UNODC Chief, during the meeting, also welcomed Kyrgyzstan's adoption of a National Anti-drug Programme developed with UNODC support. Mr. Fedotov said there was a need for countries everywhere to focus on the human dimension of the drug problem. This involved, he said, creating health-based initiatives to help children, women and men most affected by drug use and to counteract the negative health and social consequences of illicit drugs.
President Atambayev is on a state visit to Austria and met Mr. Fedotov in his role as the Director-General of the UN Office at Vienna, and as Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
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For further information, please contact:
David
Dadge
Spokesperson, UNODC
Telephone: (+43- 1) 26060-5629
Mobile: (+43) 699-1459-5629
Email: david.dadge[at]unvienna.org
