YEREVAN (Armenpress)–On March 29 2002–the Armenian government–UNDP and the European Union (EU) will launch the second project under the South Caucasus Anti-Drug Program (SCAD).
The South Caucasus Anti Drug Program–initiated in 2001–is a joint program of the European Commission and UNDP implemented in three South Caucasus countries (Armenia–Azerbaijan and Georgia). The objective of the SCAD Program is to support the efforts of the three countries in combating drug trafficking via South Caucasus–and foster regional cooperation to this effect.
The program–with a total budget of Euro 959,000 earmarked for Armenia–has five objectives. The first objective is the reinforcement and harmonization of the national legal and regulatory frameworks for drug control. The second objective is to strengthen land border interdiction capacities to reduce drug transit from both east-west and south-north routes and foster cross-border cooperation. Under its third objective–the program addresses the development of a compatible system for drug intelligence to collect and analyze drug related undisclosed data. The fourth objective is to help create a drug use monitoring capacity in the South Caucasus region–and the fifth objective is to strengthen capacities of education and law enforcement bodies for drug prevention at schools.
The SCAD program is implemented in three phases. The first phase–SCAD 1–was completed in December 2001 and resulted in the design of a Plan of Action for review of the national drug-related legal and institutional frameworks. The second phase–SCAD 2–will focus on drug information monitoring and drug abuse prevention at schools.
On Friday–a presentation will cover the overall objectives of the SCAD 2 achievemen’s to date and the planned activities. The agenda will also include the transfer of equipment to the Ministry of Interior which is the key government counterpart for the program.