The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signed a new program of cooperation in Central Asia for 2022-2025 with the ministries of foreign affairs of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on Wednesday in Tashkent.
The UN Deputy Secretary General, UNODC Executive Secretary Geda Vali, who is on a visit to Tashkent, underscored that the signing of the new program will expand cooperation in this area. reportedly, the total budget for the new program will be US$ 90 million.
She stressed that UNODC will continue to closely monitor the situation in Afghanistan and its impact on the countries of Central Asia, especially the continued growth in drug production since August and security risks in that country.
The Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov in his remarks highlighted that the previous phase of the UNODC program for 2015-2021 had shown its effectiveness in achieving results in the fight against drugs, organized crime, corruption and terrorism.
The Minister Kamilov noted that an example of this is projects of a national and regional nature total worth of about US$ 15 million, including the creation of interdepartmental mobile groups and border interaction offices, as well as the opening of three port control points, which managed to identify and suppress more than 100 serious cases of smuggling for a total worth of US$ 14.6 million.
“I am confident that we will be able to give a new impetus to this extremely responsible and urgent work, as well as lay a solid foundation for deepening and expanding our interaction in this direction,” added Abdulaziz Kamilov.
