UNODC hands over personal protection equipment to the State Border Service of Turkmenistan to support the COVID-19 response

On 1 December 2020, UNODC handed over personal protection equipment to the State Border Service of Turkmenistan.

In total, 20,000 single-use masks, 1,200 disposable gloves, 1,300 KN95 respiratory masks, 900 pieces of antiseptic liquid, 650 face shields, 900 sprayers for disinfection, 2,500 shoe covers, 197 protective suits/coveralls, and 12 contactless infrared thermometers amounting to US$ 21,597 were handed over to the agency to protect the staff from COVID-19 during their service.

The personal protective equipment items were distributed among the officers of both the State Border Service Headquarters and border crossing points to ensure the personal safety of law enforcement officers who are at the forefront of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The assistance was provided within the framework of the Border Cooperation Component funded by the Government of Japan and designed to counter the trafficking of Afghan opiates through the northern route by establishing Border Liaison Offices (BLOs) at the key border crossing points in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. It is the first project to establish BLOs in Central Asia, and its stakeholders are the Border and Customs Services as well as Drug Control Agencies and Ministries of Internal Affairs of each participating country. The component is part of Sub-programme 1 “Countering transnational organized crime, illicit drug trafficking and preventing terrorism” of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia.

In February 2020, the Government of Japan allocated 743 million yen (US$ 7,110,047.85) to UNODC for the implementation of the project.

The Government of Japan allocated US$22,800.00 each for five countries in a total of US$ 114,000.00 to procure personal protection equipment and medical kits to support law enforcement agencies in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

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For additional information please contact

Nurangez Abdulhamidova,

Communication and External Relations Officer

UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (Dushanbe)

Email: nurangez.abdulhamidova[at]un.org