Two Expert Group Meetings (EGM) under the Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (AKT) Initiative convened by the UNODC Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries
Two Expert Group Meetings (EGM) under the AKT Initiative were convened on 13-14 October 2016 by the UNODC Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The delegations of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as the representatives of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for combating the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors (CARICC) participated in the meetings.
During the first day of the meetings, the delegations made presentations on the current situation on countering narcotics in their respective countries, while also discussing the completed joint operations between the AKT countries. Similarly, the participants discussed the role of the drug liaison officers (DLOs) on planning and conducting joint counter narcotics operations in the near future. Finally, the participants developed recommendations on the improvement of the legal basis of the aforementioned joint operations.
On the second day of the meetings, the participants discussed the Memorandum of Mutual Cooperation between the relevant ministries and agencies of the AKT Initiative countries, which was developed during the previous expert group meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and later on reviewed by the respective law enforcement agencies of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
After thorough discussions, the participants finalized the above mentioned memorandum for endorsement during the next Ministerial level meeting, which will be held in the first quarter of 2017.
UNODC would like to thank the European Union for funding both EGMs.