1 November 2010 - UNODC (Vienna) - Executive Director Yury Fedotov has given his full support to the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in response to the growing threat of drug trafficking throughout Central Asia. As a first step, UNODC is to dispatch a needs-assessment mission to Kyrgyzstan, after which experts will draw up the initial plans for a strategy to support the country's new drug control service.
"Confronting the flow of illicit Afghan opium is of paramount importance for the security of the region," stressed Mr. Fedotov, saying that "effective drug control in Kyrgyzstan would bolster UN-wide efforts to consolidate peacebuilding and conflict prevention" in that country.
At the request of Kyrgyz President Rosa Otunbayeva, on 29 October, Mr. Vitaly Kerimovich Orazaliev, head of the State Service on Drug Control of the Kyrgyz Republic, came to Vienna to request support from UNODC. He said the "alarming situation" of increased drug trafficking was an important factor behind the country's recent political turmoil. "Its financing of destabilizing forces and corruption have only worsened since the events of June 2010," stated Mr. Orazaliev.
The State Service, which was established under a Presidential decree in August 2010, aims to coordinate action with its drug control counterparts across the region.
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