Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The trilateral partnership of UNODC, Japan and Russia to support counter-narcotics responses in Afghanistan and West and Central Asia stands as a shining example of shared responsibility in action, and as a best practice in promoting regional cooperation and balanced approaches to address shared challenges.
I would like to therefore begin by thanking all our partners in this endeavour.
We have been implementing the Domodedovo Project, our trilateral project on "Improving the Capacity of the national police of Afghanistan and of Central Asian countries to tackle drug trafficking", since 2012.
This has been conducted with Japan's continued financial support and provision of experts for the training that is delivered and supported by Russia at Domodedevo.
At the start of the project, we focused on providing national-level support to Afghanistan's counter-narcotics police, but over time the partnership has expanded to include law enforcement officers from neighbouring countries in Central Asia.
To date, we have held twelve training courses for one hundred and ninety-five officers, including one hundred and twenty-seven from Afghanistan and sixty-eight from Central Asia.
Through these efforts we have enhanced regional networks and improved interdiction efforts, in line with CND resolutions to support law enforcement training.
We have further supplemented the project with a Database on Law Enforcement Training for Europe, West and Central Asia, which was launched at last year's CND session to promote coordination, as well as strengthen the oversight and sustainability of such training activities.
In view of these successes, Japan, Russia and UNODC, along with Afghanistan, have embarked on a new project together.
Last October, we launched an initiative to establish a counter-narcotics canine unit in Afghanistan.
This has begun with the training of administrative staff at the Rostov Dog Training School of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Work to set up the "K9" unit in Kabul continues, and later this year Rostov will host training for the dog handlers.
The new project represents a useful, practical step to support Afghanistan's law enforcement agencies to more effectively detect and intercept illicit drug shipments.
Finally, I would like to commend our partners for renewing their commitment to these joint efforts with the "Declaration on the cooperation between Japan, the Russian Federation and UNODC to support counter narcotic efforts of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan", which we signed in Vienna last November.
Now we will enter Phase Six of the Domodedevo project in the second half of this year. I am confident that our partnership will continue to go from strength to strength.
UNODC remains committed to these joint efforts, and we rely on your continued engagement and support. Thank you.