UNODC is cosponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS
UNODC Reaches Out to 200 Schools in Chandigarh for Drug Abuse Prevention on 2nd April 2008
Conrtibuted by Bidisha Pillai, Project Officer, Project G86
The Seminar in Progress
The Education Department, Chandigarh Administration, in association with
Art of Living and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), organized a day long seminar on the need for Drug Abuse Prevention Programmes in Schools on 2nd April 2008, at the Government College in Chandigarh.
The seminar was inaugurated by His Excellency, Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM, VSM, Governor of Punjab and Administrator Chnadigarh. The Governor, who delivered the key note address on the occasion, expressed his solidarity with the cause and urged all those present to take up drug prevention activities as a priority.
The meeting was attended by more than two hundred school principals, teachers and members from civil society organizations in Chandigarh, who were sensitized on the prevalence of drugs in India and the need for prevention activities, particularly in schools. The aim was to set the ground for roll out of
UNODC's School Drug Prevention Programme currently being implemented under its
Project G86, in these schools at a later date.
The seminar also marked the first in a series of activities, which will be undertaken as part of a partnership between Art of Living and UNODC.
Participants arriving for the Seminar
'I decide' material on display at the venue
The partnership was launched by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at a
mega event held on 27th March 2008 at the Japanese Gardens in Delhi, where the message on prevention, with the tag line "I Decide, I won't take Drugs" had reached over two lakh people.
With such events, Project G86 is steadily gaining ground in terms of bringing in a larger number and greater variety of partners into their fold to create a safe and drug free world.
The Seminar in Progress
Participants arriving for the Seminar
'I decide' material on display at the venue