ISLAMABAD: A two-day Regional Counter Narcotics Seminar and Workshop in close collaboration with Anti-Narcotics Force started here on Tuesday.
The seminar and workshop has been organized by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Office, Pakistan.
This seminar and workshop has been organised to promote regional and international cooperation between the counter-narcotics authorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Arab States and East African countries, with the aim of jointly addressing the challenges of drug trafficking emanating through the Southern Drug Trafficking Route. Besides raising the importance of overall counter-narcotics efforts by Pakistan, the seminar will highlight Pakistan’s recent accomplishments; as well it will advocate close linkages between UNODC Pakistan’s capacity-building contributions and the national success stories.
The changing dynamics of the region continues to expand the scope of UNODC’s mandate and capacity-building initiatives in Pakistan, the country being considered as the first line of defence in the international fight against drug trafficking and related transnational organize crime. The seminar will help build a networking of the networks between several regional cooperation initiatives and will pave the way for improving future operational cooperation amongst several participating countries and counter-narcotics organizations across the globe.
Ghalib Ali Bandesha – Secretary Narcotics Control Division, Cesar Guedes – Representative UNODC Country Office Pakistan, Major General Khawar Hanif Director General Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) and delegates from over 40 countries, international organizations and representatives of diplomatic community are participating in the seminar.
