The Arab League added that the Regional Framework articulates six focus areas for guiding UNODC-implemented programming at the regional and national levels and they are: a balanced approach to drug control, strengthening the response to organized crime, combating trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, action against corruption and financial crime, preventing and countering terrorism and violence, and strengthening crime/violence prevention and criminal justice.
The Arab League pointed out that the Arab Plan for Prevention and Reduction of the Dangers of Drugs to Arab Society, which was launched during the meeting under the title “Towards Effective Response to Drugs Issue,” constitutes a regional social framework for combating drugs in Arab countries. This important plan represents a regional social framework for combating drugs in the Arab States by highlighting the social dimension of drug demand reduction in the context of its negative impact on social development in specific and sustainable development in general. This is also at the heart of efforts to achieve the Arab Declaration adopted by the Arab League in 2016 to implement the Sustainable Development Agenda 2023.
The Arab League added that the present document provides an indicative vision for guiding Arab action toward a comprehensive and integrated response based on scientific evidence and consistent with the Arab specificity of this phenomenon. The Plan aims to build national strategies and action plans that meet national requirements and includes a number of initiatives, projects and activities that achieve their objectives in complementarity with Arab efforts to combat the supply of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances through comprehensive actions that include proactiveness and social resolution.
The Arab League indicated that the Arab Plan’s dimensions showcase the methods of how to address this phenomenon from a social perspective and in line with Arab countries’ regulations and conditions to implement effective interventions including related multidimensional social and development consequences and to strengthen Arab efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Arab League noted that the important dimensions of the Plan include community prevention, rehabilitation and social integration, addressing drug-related harm and its consequences, as well as the dimensions and themes in support of the Plan’s areas of action, namely international cooperation, scientific research and innovation, coordination mechanisms, governance, implementation, measurement and impact assessment. (QNA)
Source: Qatar News Agency