UN ODC Regional Office for Central Asia - United Nations Office on ...

CONFERENCE REPORT
ANNEX 1
CONFERENCE CONCEPT PAPER
1. Background
<strong>UN</strong><strong>ODC</strong>CP’s main priorities are governed by the
various <strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong> Drug Control Conventions
and the 1998 <strong>UN</strong>GASS Political Declaration, as
well as the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of
Drug Demand Reduction. While the Declaration on
the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction
sets out the general principles <strong>for</strong> what is good quality
demand reduction, the Political Declaration establishes
two time-bound goals <strong>for</strong> reducing demand
during the present decade: new or enhanced drug
demand reduction strategies and programmes by the
year 2003; and significant and measurable results in
demand reduction by the year 2008.
As indicated in the action plan, developed as guidance
to Member States in implementing the abovementioned
Declaration, <strong>UN</strong><strong>ODC</strong>CP’s main task
in the region is to support <strong>Central</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>n countries
in the implementation of the Declaration in the
following ways:
• Supporting governments in developing and implementing
demand reduction strategies and programmes;
• Encouraging the dissemination and application
of research findings;
• Facilitating the sharing of in<strong>for</strong>mation on best
strategies;
• Promoting the development of guidelines;
• Facilitating inter-country exchange of experts
<strong>for</strong> training purposes;
• Facilitating the participation of <strong>for</strong>eign experts
in national training programmes;
• Establishing co-ordination mechanisms of evaluation
results and other data assessing the effectiveness
of strategies and activities.
Be<strong>for</strong>e <strong>for</strong>mulating a comprehensive strategy, however,
it is necessary to collect reliable in<strong>for</strong>mation
on the actual extent, nature, and trends of drug
abuse and drug related problems in the region, and
to set up a sustainable data collection system at
national and regional level.
In response to the lack of reliable data on the current
magnitude and nature of the drug abuse problem in
<strong>Central</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>, as well as the institutional needs to address
it, <strong>UN</strong><strong>ODC</strong>CP implemented two major assessment
projects in 2001. The first project was to conduct
an assessment of drug consumption problems in the
region. The second was to assess the needs <strong>for</strong> the
development of policies and strategies, and to identify
priority areas <strong>for</strong> implementation of drug demand reduction
programmes in individual countries and the
region as a whole. These two projects were in-line with
the recommendations of the International Conference
on “Enhancing Security and Stability in <strong>Central</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>:
An Integrated Approach to Counter Drugs, Organized
Crime and Terrorism” held in October 2000 in Tashkent,
and organized by <strong>UN</strong><strong>ODC</strong>CP and OSCE.
The national assessments of drug consumption problems
were conducted using a multi-method approach,
in which both qualitative and quantitative data from
different sources were collected. The research teams in
each country supported by technical inputs by an international
consultant and <strong>UN</strong><strong>ODC</strong>CP’s Global Assessment
Programme conducted key in<strong>for</strong>mant studies,
snowball studies of current drug users, and indepth
studies of intravenous drug users and drug users
in prisons and correctional facilities. They also reviewed
secondary data sources and conducted analyses
of existing data on the treatment <strong>for</strong> drug abuse problems,
arrests on drug related offences, drug seizures
and HIV/AIDS. The entire project was designed and
implemented in a manner that not only enabled the
national research teams to assess the nature and extent
of drug problems in each of the <strong>Central</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>n countries,
but also helped in developing their capacities to
address these issues on an ongoing basis.
The second project, Assessment of Needs and Priority
Areas <strong>for</strong> Drug Demand Reduction, was implemented
by an international expert. The existing
policies and programmes <strong>for</strong> demand reduction in
each country were reviewed using individual interviews,
focus group discussions and workshops with
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