Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us here today. I am grateful that Minister Lavrov was able to address this high-level event on the cooperation between UNODC and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
My thanks to China for hosting, and I am grateful to the Russian Federation, the Kyrgyz Republic and SCO for co-organizing.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Secretary-General Vladimir Norov on his appointment.
This joint side event, the third of its kind, takes place when the international community's focus on global drug control issues is at its highest.
Indeed, we are gathered at the ministerial segment at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to take stock and advance progress towards addressing and countering the world drug problem.
It is extremely valuable to have a regular opportunity to assess developments in the SCO region and review the outcomes of the actions undertaken within the framework of our cooperation.
The challenges are many. They include record opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan, as well as precursor trafficking, alongside organized crime, illicit financial flows and the spread of violent extremism and terrorism.
Opium cultivation levels in Afghanistan last year were the second-highest since the beginning of systematic monitoring in 1994.
The Geneva Conference on Afghanistan last year reiterated the need for effective counter-narcotics measures.
The Secretary-General's statement to the Conference called for renewed efforts by the international community, along with regional support and engagement to overcome serious challenges of insecurity, poverty and the rule of law.
In this regard, the SCO Antidrug Strategy is particularly timely and relevant.
It focuses on addressing the threat of Afghan opiates, as well as on regional and international cooperation, including through engagement with UNODC, INCB and CARICC.
UNODC will support Member States in further promoting cooperation in the fight against illegal drug trafficking based on this Strategy and the related Programme of Action.
I would also like to welcome the increasingly active role played by SCO in the Paris Pact Initiative.
The Initiative remains a unique mechanism providing strategic guidance to fifty-eight partner states and twenty-three international organizations, including UNODC, on countering opiates from Afghanistan.
The recent high-level Paris Pact expert meeting hosted by SCO last November in Beijing resulted in a strong call upon Paris Pact international and regional coordination centres - including SCO, INTERPOL, CSTO and CARICC - to implement expert recommendations and report on progress made.
UNODC will also continue to promote regional law enforcement cooperation to address threats from narcotic drugs.
This includes action through the multilateral cooperation frameworks, such as CARICC, the Triangular Initiative and its Joint Planning Cell as well as the Afghanistan-Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Initiative.
In this regard, UNODC will further rely on SCO, which plays a critical role in building trust and confidence in the region and beyond.
In West and Central Asia, UNODC builds on existing, integrated national, regional and inter-regional initiatives and further combines its efforts with those of regional and international organizations. Our partners include SCO, INTERPOL, the OSCE and the CSTO, among others.
Our common work with INTERPOL, under a joint action plan and cooperation agreement, further capitalizes on our respective strengths to deliver the most effective criminal justice and law enforcement support to Member States in the region.
UNODC and SCO are also preparing for several important meetings taking place in the region this year to address illicit drug challenges.
These include the forthcoming eleventh review meeting of the Memorandum of Understanding on Sub-Regional Drug Control Cooperation for Central Asia, and the high-level conference on "International and Regional Cooperation on Countering Terrorism and its Financing through Illicit Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime".
Our policy and regional-level cooperation with SCO will continue to go hand in hand with cooperation on the technical level, with training and expertise in preventing and combatting illicit drug trafficking, terrorism and illicit financial flows.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to conclude by expressing my gratitude to our regional and international partners and donors for their continued engagement and support.
UNODC remains committed to working with SCO and supporting the region and the wider international community to address shared challenges related to illicit narcotic drugs.
Thank you.