21 January 2010

Government of Maldives signs UNODC-EU supported project to combat Drug Abuse

The drug abuse problem among the youth that further escalated with the introduction of heroin is a serious national concern in the Maldives. The National Narcotics Control Bureau (NNCB), Government of Maldives estimates that there are between 2,000 and 3,000 drug users. The prison authorities in the Maldives estimate that 80 per cent of the inmates need drug treatment. Increased drug use, especially injecting drug – currently estimated at a 20 to 25 per cent of all drug use will exacerbate the HIV epidemic which is still at its early phase. In view of all this, addressing drug use is one of the five key pledges of the new Government and an area which the UN system in the Maldives has been supporting and will continue to support.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) helps countries and its people to reduce drugs and crime and address justice and human security issues. It helps Member States with technical assistance, legal advice and research within the framework of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the three UN Conventions on drug control. UNODC is collaborating with the European Union which has identified drug control as a main priority for its cooperation in Maldives.

To effectively deal with drug use , UNODC signed with the Government of Maldives the ever first country- specific technical cooperation project for Maldives, called “Strengthening the national response to combat drug abuse in the Maldives’, funded by the European Union. The signing ceremony took place on 19 January 2010 at the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Government of Maldives, where Mr. Ali Hashim, Minister of Finance and Treasury, Mr. Abdul Bari Abdulla, Minister of State for Health and Family, Government of Maldives, and Ms. Cristina Albertin, UNODC Representative for South Asia signed the project document. The UN Resident Coordinator a.i., Mr. Mansoor M. Ali, witnessed the signing ceremony.

The project will provide technical assistance to strengthen the national response on drug use prevention and treatment through a series of capacity-building measures both with the Government and the civil society in the framework of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework. UNODC and the rest of the UN team, EU and Government of Maldives look forward to this new cooperation project in support of the Maldivian society.

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