UNODC Regional Representative meets SADC Executive Secretary on cooperation against crime and drugs

Gaborone, Botswana - Newly appointed UNDOC Regional Representative, Ms. Zhuldyz Akisheva, met Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax, the Executive Secretary of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) on 12 May 2015 at the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana.   

Dr. Tax extended a warm welcome to Ms. Akisheva as new Regional Representative and called for a strengthened cooperation between SADC and UNODC in line with the Memorandum of Understanding and the joint SADC-UNODC Regional Programme. She highlighted that fighting illicit drugs and crime, especially their s ocial impact on the people of the Region, remains a key priority for SADC.   

The UNODC Regional Representative re-confirmed the commitment of UNODC and its Executive Director to enhance the cooperation with SADC to address challenges to public security and lives of people in the Region through illicit drugs and crime in line with regional priorities.

UNODC and SADC agreed to enhance cooperation both at decision-making and expert levels through information sharing, the implementation of the Regional Programme and close monitoring of newly emerging challenges and threats in the region.