UNODC, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Central Asia

Mr. Jens Erik Sundby - UNODC Regional Representative a.i.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated by international conventions and UN resolutions to assist Member States in implementing UN treaties on drug control, transnational organized crime, corruption, criminal justice reform, suppression of terrorism and human trafficking. The Regional Office for Central Asia ROCA) assists the five Central Asian states in reducing the use and trade of illicit drugs, in fighting organized crime and in preventing and prosecuting terrorism. The Regional Office is located in Tashkent and has sub-offices in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), Astana as well as Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Baku (Azerbaijan). With a population of over 27 million, Uzbekistan is the most populous country in Central Asia and its role in the region's stability is pivotal. Reflecting this, UNODC has been in Uzbekistan since 1993 to help develop the country by addressing issues that affect the security, safety and health of its population, particularly young people. Development is unsustainable unless issues of drug trafficking and abuse, organized crime, corruption and terrorism are addressed effectively.

Crime Prevention and Human Trafficking

UNODC ROCA provides assistance in strengthening the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons in Uzbekistan through implementation of a national project which is aimed at
strengthening the capacity of Uzbek legal mechanisms and law enforcement institutions to prevent, investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking, to make Uzbekistan's response to trafficking in persons in line with the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and
its supplementing Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children The project activities envisage supporting the government in its efforts to
strengthen anti-human trafficking legislation, extensive training to law enforcement and criminal justice officials establishing a human trafficking database, and facilitating regional and
international cooperation.

Terrorism Prevention

UNODC also assists the Government of Uzbekistan to strengthen its legal regime against terrorism by promoting the ratification and implementation of the UN Conventions and Protocols and relevant Security Council Resolutions against terrorism. The scope of assistance provided by UNODC in terrorism prevention area also includes expanding the legal knowledge base of criminal justice officials and law enforcement personnel dealing with counter-terrorism issues, development and updating of technical assistance tools (Model Laws, Legislative Guides etc.) and providing of legislative drafting assistance to further incorporate universal provisions into a national legislation.

Legal Advice

Overcoming these challenges requires an effective legal and institutional framework. To this end, UNODC provides expert policy recommendations on law and infrastructure improvements, in line with the UN Conventions on drugs, transnational organized crime, corruption and terrorism. UNODC supports the national partners in their development of strategies for drug abuse and HIV prevention and treatment; laws to prevent drug trafficking and prosecute the offenders, prevention of money laundering; and other legal issues that address extradition and international legal cooperation. In tandem with promoting the Conventions through the legislative process, UNODC provides trainings to criminal justice officials and law enforcement personnel involved in legislative drafting so that these individuals may better understand the purposes served through these Conventions.

Drug Demand Reduction and HIV Prevention

In addition to trafficking of illicit opiates from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan also faces the challenge of increasing drug abuse, especially injecting drug use, which, in turn, fuels the spread of HIV and other blood borne infections. To address the problem of drug abuse and HIV, UNODC has initiated programmes that enhance national capacity to prevent drug abuse, to provide treatment and support services to drug-dependent persons, to reduce the spread of HIV among injecting drug users and in prison settings in conformity with relevant international conventions and the established mandates of UNODC. The training programmes in this area provide the personnel with the ability and expertise to establish and provide a broad range of services, including (1) outreach interventions for the prevention of HIV and other blood-borne infections among injecting drug users and (2) Treatment of drug dependent persons. UNODC also provides training and educational materials aimed at prevention of drug use and HIV infection especially among young people.

Effective data analysis

UNODC issues authoritative reports based on drug crop surveys, drug addiction data and trend analysis, which are relied on by governments, experts, the media, etc. The Regional Office for Central Asia has developed this expertise to a high caliber, contributing to powerful knowledge-based policy analysis.

Drug Supply Reduction

A substantial portion of the heroin produced in Afghanistan transits Central Asia. To help Uzbekistan tackle the negative effects of this illicit trade, UNODC assists national law enforcement agencies to improve border control and increase their operational anti-trafficking capacity. Projects provide equipment and training tailored to the specific challenges faced by Uzbekistan in dealing with international and indigenous drug smuggling and are also used to promote inter-regional operations involving countries in the region. The Hayraton Friendship Bridge to Afghanistan provides a prime example of this assistance. The project equipped the bridge and border control personnel with modern equipment that enhances trade while also guarding against illicit trafficking. UNODC has also assisted Uzbekistan in the development of drug information collection and analysis by installing national drug trafficking intelligence analysis systems in agencies with drug control responsibilities and linking the country to the regional information collection and dissemination centre (CARICC).

CARICC, or to use its full title, "the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre" is a further example of UNODC's work in the region.. The purpose of the Centre, which was established along the lines of Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, is to facilitate information exchange and analysis, and to assist in the coordination of operational activities of the various law enforcement agencies in the region - police, drug control agencies, customs, border guards and other services of the countries involved.

UNODC Regional Office's project portfolio for 2008 comes to around 9 million dollars. The most active donors supporting UNODC's programs in the sub-region are governments of Austria, Finland, Italy, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA, as well as the NATO-Russia Council and the European Commission. UNODC often partners with other UN agencies (UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, etc), the OSCE and local authorities to effectively address the different drugs and crime related issues in the region.

Main partners:

In drug abuse prevention:
• Ministries of Public Education in CA countries; Ministries of Health in CA countries;
• Narcological dispensaries in CA countries;
• AIDS centers in CA countries;
• NGOs;
• UNICEF,
• UNFPA,
• UNESCO,
• WHO,
• UNAIDS,
• World Bank.

In the fight against illicit drugs and international crime:
• United nations Development Programme (UNDP);
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD);
• International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol);
• Drug Control Agencies in CA countries;
• Customs committees in CA countries;
• Ministries of Internal Affairs in CA countries;
• National Security Services in CA countries; Border services in CA countries

In terrorism prevention:
• Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure/Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO);
• Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO);
• CIS Antiterroristic centre;
• Parliamentary committees on defense and security;
• National Security Services;
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE);
• Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW);
• The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)/Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC);
• Offices of Public Prosecutor in CA countries;
• Supreme Courts in CA countries;
• Departments of Justice in CA countries

Contact information:
UNODC
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
30a, Abdulla Kahhor Street
Tel. (+ 998 71) 120 80 50
Fax (+ 998 71) 120 62 90 

Website: www.unodc.org/uzbekistan