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Anti-drug Programme Just the Beginning says Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine
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Minsk, Belarus, March 2009-Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine vowed to continue cooperative drug-fighting efforts, at the close of a programme that brought those countries together in the fight against drug trafficking and drug addiction. Both illicit trafficking and drug abuse plague all three countries, and the problem could get worse with the current global economic downturn. The Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova Anti-Drugs programme was a regional initiative funded by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme to tackle drug trafficking from and through the three countries to EU member states. Known as BUMAD, the programme was in response to a steady increase in drug-related problems over the past two decades in all three countries, creating serious barriers to peace and development. In Ukraine, for instance, experts estimate the yearly income of illicit drug trafficking to be as much as $1.6 bn. In Belarus, experts estimated intravenous drug use to be 1.3 percent of the population aged 15-54 in 2008. In Moldova, marijuana use among those 15-64 years old was 3.4 percent in 2008. In the face of such challenges, the three countries, with assistance from the EU and the UNDP, launched the joint programme in 2003. The programme included a range of technical and civic activities to mitigate drug trafficking and abuse. Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine each established drug monitoring centres aligned with European Union standards. Such standards allow the countries to better collect information used in public policy and in fighting drug abuse and trafficking. “This plays an important role in drug data collection and policy development, with the harmonized approach allowing all sides to cooperate more closely,” EU Ambassador, Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, said. Additionally, police academies in each country also worked with non-governmental organizations to establish drug abuse prevention courses. Improvements to forensics, customs operations and law enforcement intelligence databases were also implemented. In Ukraine, basic drug laws were also amended to bring them up to international standards. Ukrainian authorities also seized a record one ton of Afghan-made heroin in one three-year period of the programme. Such efforts signal a promising start to combating drug tracking and abuse in the three countries, and staunching the flow of drugs to nearby countries. “All of this [shows] that further support to the programme’s past initiatives guarantee an invaluable contribution to global drug control efforts,” UNDP System Coordinator, Francis O’Donnell, said. |
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