PIPELINE PROJECTS/PROJECT IDEAS

1.       Strengthened Border Control & Cross-Border Cooperation

(total budget: US$ 1,576,900)

  TJK/J48 - "Developing cross-border cooperation along the Tajik - Afghan border"

The project aims at improving cross border cooperation and drug enforcement performance in targeted and prioritized border areas. It will contribute to ameliorating the weak Tajik-Afghan border and the associated problems by establishing Border Liaison Offices (BLOs). The BLOs will regularly meet, exchange information, and design and implement joint activities, thus enhancing cross-border cooperation. Through the BLOs, this project will support the Governments of Tajikistan and Afghanistan to develop cross-border cooperation and improve interdiction capacities along their shared border. In order to ensure cooperation with other donors and to build upon success already achieved, the BLOs will be established at sites where other donors are currently improving infrastructure.

  TKM/J92 - "Strengthening border control along the Turkmen-Uzbek border, in particular at Farap checkpoint"

This project intends to provide the necessary expertise, training and equipment to support to law enforcement agencies located at Farap checkpoint at the Turkmen-Uzbek border. The Farap Checkpoint has been identified as one of the main arteries facilitating the flow of persons and cargo for Central/South Asia with the Caucuses, European Union, the Gulf States, Iran, Turkey,  and the Russian Federation. In order to ensure that the facility can meet the challenges of the increase in passengers and goods, the knowledge of the staff and technical capacity of the checkpoint needs to be enhanced. This is a particularly important consideration for national and international agencies bearing in mind Turkmenistan's position as one of Afghanistan's direct neighbours. This project is also complementary to the activities taken under UNODC's AD/TKM/I78 Border Control Project at Imam-Nazar along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan border and is therefore a continuation of UNODC's activities to support the Government of Turkmenistan's efforts to strengthen the border control agencies' drug interdiction capacities. Synergies are also being developed with the Government of the United States, which has already started constructing a new facility at the same checkpoint in line with a bilateral agreement with the Government of Turkmenistan. While their activities also include enhancing the drug interdiction capacity, UNODC will closely cooperate with the US Embassy in order to avoid any duplication in the envisaged technical and training assistance.

2.       Effective Regional Precursor Chemical Control

(total budget: US$ 306,400)

  UZB/J50 - "Precursor project at Hayraton Border Crossing on the Afghan/Uzbek border"

This project is designed to assess the current mechanisms in place to detect, intercept and seize precursor chemicals at Hayraton border crossing, particularly regarding the rail depot. On the basis of a threat analysis, basic equipment and training will be provided to staff stationed at the border crossing. Furthermore, as similar situations exist at rail crossings elsewhere in Central Asia, notably Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, this project will serve as a pilot for similar activities to be launched in those locations.

3.       Effective Responses for Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care.

(total budget: US$ 2,194,140)

  GLO/J71 - "Partnership for Action on Comprehensive Treatment (PACT) - Treating drug dependence and its health consequences / OFID-UNODC Joint Programme to prevent HIV/AIDS through Treatnet Phase II"

This project, building on lessons learned from the predecessor project GLO/H43, addresses the limited technical capacity for the provision of diversified and effective drug treatment and rehabilitation services, including their capacity to support HIV/AIDS prevention and care. It consists of the provision of technical assistance, identification and dissemination of good practices while exploring the possibilities for maintaining and enhancing field level activities. A global Partnership for Action on Comprehensive Treatment (PACT) will be launched in collaboration with WHO, to increase the level of awareness on addiction as a treatable multifactorial disease and effective drug dependence treatment and support its implementation.

  KAZ/J54 - "Improvement of drug abuse prevention, treatment and rehabilitation measures in Astana, Kazakhstan"

This project has been developed at the request of the Government of Kazakhstan and is aimed at introducing additional measures in support of implementation of the State Programme "Astana-a city without drugs". Since the Programme envisages a set of measures - law enforcement, demand reduction, treatment, rehabilitation, etc. - the project will launch complementary activities to reinforce the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation component of the Programme. The main objective of the project is to improve drug abuse prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in Astana city with the active involvement of civil society.

  TAJ/I41 - "Reduction of risk of HIV/AIDS/STI among personnel of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Tajikistan"

This project is aimed at developing and establishing a strategy on   HIV/AIDS/STI prevention among the staff of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) in Tajikistan. Trafficking of opiates through Tajikistan onwards has a direct impact on the drug abuse situation in the country. With the majority of drug abusers injecting opiates, this and other risk behaviours have rendered a proportion of population vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other blood borne and sexually transmitted infections and have thereby become a threat to the health of the nation and the security of the state. Therefore it is imperative to establish a strategy on HIV/AIDS/STI prevention targeting staff of MoI as among other groups that maybe vulnerable to HIV/AIDS or STI. This requires capacity building, particularly in the Ministry of the Interior, to implement peer support and counselling programmes and VCT for HIV/AIDS and STI as well as syndromic management of STI among staff within the MoI. One element of capacity building and sustainability of the interventions would be integration of the curriculum on HIV/AIDS and STI prevention and peer support and counselling within the existing training programmes of Ministry of Interior.

  TJK/J77 - "Prevention of drug use among youth in Tajikistan"

The government of Tajikistan, while resource constrained to invest in the social and economic development of the country, has to tackle on one hand the trafficking of considerable amounts of heroin from Afghanistan and on the other the growing problem of drug abuse especially among the youth. While there have been interventions in the country to address the drug abuse problem, such as attempts to improve the delivery of drug abuse treatment services, some interventions in schools to introduce a "healthy life style" curriculum - there still remain major gaps of initiating large scale prevention and health promotion programmes for youth in community settings.

The mid term strategy for UNODC as well as the Strategic Programme Framework (SPF) for Central Asia foresees enhancing national capacities to foster community centred prevention programmes. The project therefore aims to help the government of Tajikistan in developing the capacity of youth leaders in implementing peer support and counselling programmes as well as initiating programmes for health promotion and prevention of drug use with the involvement of youth at the community level.

  TKM/U38 - "Prevention of substance use and crimes among youth in Turkmenistan"

The project aims at developing the capacity of national counterparts, as well as to facilitate the implementation of the below components of the Turkmen national programme to fight trafficking of illicit drugs and provision of care and support to drug dependent persons.

·          Introduction of programs aimed at prevention of illegal use of narcotic and psychotropic substances in schools, specialized secondary schools, and higher education establishments;

·          Arranging and conducting training for employees of the educational, social, law enforcement, military, and local government agencies in the issues of drug abuse prevention;

·          Preparation and publication (with consideration of the specifics of youth groups) of educational and informational materials related to  the propaganda of healthy style of life and prevention of illegal use of narcotic and psychotropic substances;

·          Promoting the involvement of public associations in drug abuse prevention activities; and

·          Engaging youths in sports and socially useful works.

  UZB/J79 - "Community Centered Prevention in Uzbekistan "

This project is designed to improve national capacities for implementation of effective programmes for prevention of drug use and support the Government's endeavour by strengthen capacities of community's administrations, school teachers, teenagers as well as parents at the community level to develop and implement prevention activities.

The project is based on experience and important lessons learned from the previous interventions of UNODC in the field of drug demand reduction. The implementation of the regional project on "Drug abuse prevention through mass media, NGOs and civil society organizations" has contributed greatly to the expertise of UNODC in reaching youth, and the general population in a joint approach with governmental institutions and communities.

It aims to mobilize efforts of government, community leaders, families as well as teenagers in order to produce an expand and concerted response to drug abuse in Uzbekistan.

4.       Strengthened National Capacities in Countering Trans-national Organized Crime, Corruption, Money Laundering & Terrorism

(total budget: US$ 496,300)

  KGZ/U29 - "Integrity-Building through the Special Vetting Unit in Kyrgyz Government Agencies"

This project is based on the experience gained through the establishment of the Drug Control Agency in the Kyrgyz Republic (KYR/G64). This agency makes extensive use of polygraph examinations both as a vetting procedure when recruiting staff to the Agency as well as for maintaining integrity of DCA officials. Every short-listed candidate for employment at the DCA must pass a polygraph examination as part of the screening process. The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic has expressed interest in expanding the use of polygraph vetting to other government agencies in the country. Under this project, polygraph examinations would apply specifically to the Ministry of Interior, Drug Control Agency and other agencies' staff who are posted to Mobile Interdiction Teams (MOBITs) under the KGZ/I75 project as well as other agencies designated by the Government.