Central Asia borders Afghanistan - the world’s largest opium poppy producer. The region is on the front line of efforts to counter drug trafficking along the northern route. Thematic public awareness-raising campaigns play an important role in the fight against illicit drugs. It is crucial to inform, in particular, young people, who make up more than half of the population in Central Asian countries about the risks posed by drug use and illicit drug trafficking. The awareness-raising campaign was conducted at the Korday border crossing point (BCP) on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border, the Sypatay Batyr BCP on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border, the Ak-Zhol BCP on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border, the Zhibek Zholy BCP on the Kazakh-Uzbek border, the Dusti BCP on the Tajik-Uzbek border, the Sariosiyo BCP on the Uzbek-Tajik border, the Gisht Kuprik BCP on the Uzbek-Kazakh border and the Aktau International Airport in Kazakhstan, the International Airport Manas in Kyrgyzstan and the Tashkent International Airport in Uzbekistan.  During the campaign, the UNODC team and law enforcement officers working at the BCPs and international airports placed information banners and disseminated fridge magnets among people crossing the borders. The messages on the banners and magnets were presented in English, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian, Tajik, and Uzbek languages. A campaign video dedicated to the Day was shown at the arrival and departure terminals of international flights of the Aktau International Airport and the border terminal of the Sypatay Batyr BCP.  The UNODC representatives and law enforcement officers informed the citizens crossing the land and air borders about World Drug Day, the harmful health consequences of drug use and the legal consequences of illicit drug use and trafficking, among others.   The banners provided the following useful information: “Even a single use of a drug can cause severe harm to the human body. You can become addicted to any type of drug the first time you try it”; “Illegal drugs are often transported under the guise of ordinary food, medications, or other legal goods”; “Anyone can be found to be a drug trafficker by agreeing to transport a stranger’s luggage across the border if it is found to contain drugs.” The key message on the magnet was a reminder of the harms of drug abuse. The campaign was conducted under the Cross-Border Cooperation Project of Sub-programme 1 “Countering transnational organized crime, illicit drug trafficking and preventing terrorism” of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2022-2025. The project aims to enhance the capacity of border crossing points and improve regional cross-border cooperation by promoting Border Liaison Offices’ concept and developing information and communication networks for border agencies.  The project is funded by the Government of Japan.

Drug trafficking and illicit financial flows emanating out of Afghanistan pose increased challenges for the Central Asian region. Afghanistan continues to dominate the worldwide opium market, accounting for 85 per cent of the global production total in 2020. Opium produced in Afghanistan supplies markets in neighbouring countries as well as Europe, the Near and Middle East, South Asia and Africa.  Of all of Afghanistan’s neighbours in Central Asia, Tajikistan shares its longest border. The Tajik-Afghan border runs for almost 1400 km and through incredibly rugged mountains that, compounded by weak security, make it porous. Tajikistan is therefore the most vulnerable among its neighbours to drug-related threats and challenges. Accordingly, Tajikistan plays a critical role in fighting illicit drug trafficking, especially given the high opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, and the increased production of synthetic drugs. Tajikistan ranked eleventh among countries with the largest quantities of opiate seizures in 2020. UNODC’s counternarcotics efforts in Central Asia aim to strengthen national drug enforcement agencies to address the drug-related threats and challenges effectively. The foremost coordinating institute of drug control, prevention and enforcement-related activities in Tajikistan is the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan (DCA), established in 1999. UNODC has supported it since then to enhance its capacities to counter drug trafficking, including strengthening institutional and human resources capabilities to cope with emerging challenges related to the regional drug situation.  Since 2020, UNODC in Tajikistan has been establishing a training academy at the DCA as part of a project funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The academy is designed to empower DCA staff, equipping them with the relevant knowledge and skills to execute effective service delivery. To establish the long-term sustainability of the training centre, UNODC has assisted in conducting training-of-trainers (ToT) courses to create a pool of national trainers. They will support the DCA by developing and delivering the training curriculum, and advising on the application of relevant tools, standards and norms, and best practices in the design, delivery and evaluation of training programmes. Two recipients of the ToT courses are Major Nuriddin Sharifzoda, Head of the DCA Legal Affairs Unit, and Lieutenant Colonel Tojiddin Ismoiliyon, Head of the DCA Training Centre. They are building their skills to develop their institution’s capacity, efficiency, and reputation. Over the past eight months they have delivered training courses with skills and knowledge gained from the ToT programmes and drafted standard operating procedures and some policy documents. Recently, the pair took a study tour to institutions in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Budapest, Hungary to study methods of organizing, developing, conducting, and evaluating training programmes, and processing information on drugs and precursors. They compared good practices that could be brought to the DCA.  Tojiddin Ismoiliyon described his experience to UNODC: “I have extensive teaching experience. By attending ToT courses, I learned about new teaching methods, and how to plan, conduct, and structure a course. I honed my training skills, and knowledge in adult education. I developed the DCA and UNODC project implementation plan and training materials. The trainings greatly contributed to my professional development.” Nuriddin Sharifzoda also expressed that “the courses added value to my professional teaching experience. I have trained recruits and in-service officers from the regional and inter-district departments of DCA. The ToT courses improved my training skills and knowledge in using best teaching practices. I am now equipped to conduct advanced training courses for the DCA’s instructors and staff,” he added.  Both trainers were asked what they intended to do next with their additional knowledge and skills. Both proposed establishing an institute of advanced training and professional development at the DCA training centre to further strengthen the agency’s training and human resources capacities. Tojiddin Ismoiliyon discussed developing the DCA’s institutional capacities “to ensure favourable training conditions and high quality of training activities, adapted to modern requirements and in line with international standards. If the agency’s human resources capacity is strengthened, that will contribute to conducting counternarcotics activities more effectively. That will in turn contribute to the effective detection of crimes and drug seizures.” Nuriddin Sharifzoda shared his plans to contribute to the agency’s development: “I am engaged in reviewing the current drug control legislation and proposals to improve it. I will help improve drug control regulatory and legal acts and bring legislation in line with international standards and Tajikistan’s obligations. And I will pass my new knowledge on to our officers.”   As part of its activities for World Drug Day, 26 June 2022, the DCA organized and conducted drug abuse prevention public awareness-raising campaigns and contests among youth. Both Major Nuriddin Sharifzoda and Lieutenant Colonel Tojiddin Ismoiliyon took active roles in organizing the events and promoting good health, with their enhanced training experience and skills making the activities impactful.  Mustafa Erten, Head of the UNODC Programme Office in Tajikistan, delivered several ToT courses and follow-up trainings for the DCA officers. He calls the ToT courses “the most sustainable form of capacity development as they support the building of personal skills in imparting knowledge to others, and build up an institutional memory – key for organizations with an eye on continuous development. It is encouraging to witness the strong commitment of the DCA to ToT courses through our joint project,” he added. *** The UNODC Programme for Central Asia will further strengthen the DCA’s capacity through the ongoing Tajikistan Drug Control Agency Establishing the Training Academy: Phase II project. This includes the provision of additional ToT courses, recruit and in-service staff trainings, as well as the establishment of a new database system for tracking information flow on the DCA capacity-building initiatives and the development of e-learning training modules, and an electronic library system in line with the DCA requirements. The electronic library will be updated by DCA trainers with materials, manuals, and instructions.

  In Tajikistan, most of the population rely on agriculture and labour migration for a living. However, numerous studies have found that Tajik women farmers receive little reward or income in return for their labour. They traditionally have less access than men to productive resources, services, and opportunities, including land, financial services, and education. Dasturgul Ibrohimova, who lives in the remote district of Muminobod in Khatlon Region, is one of them. Before COVID-19, Dasturgul and her family of four children relied mostly on remittances from her husband. Due to movement restrictions, her husband hasn’t been able to travel to Russia to find work. Their family plot has become the only source of income. In 2020, with the financial support of Japan Association for the World Food Programme (JAWFP), WFP launched a women’s production groups project in 21 districts of the country, including Muminobod District, the homeland of Dasturgul. The project was implemented by NGO Caritas Switzerland. Dasturgul was among the first group of participants in the project. With the knowledge she acquired, she formed a production group consisting of six women from her village. “We started this business by renting one hectare of land plot from an owner. It was hard to prepare the land for cultivation. Even my husband had hesitation about our plans and refused to help me. The plot was not used for a long time which meant more efforts were required from us to transform it into a cultivation farm,” says Dasturgul. “For the first time, in August, we planted chickpeas with the seeds I received from WFP, but we harvested almost nothing. The knowledge we received was not enough for our climate and we also realized that it was not the right season to plant. We tried the second time in April next year. Thanks God, we harvested good products and used them for our consumption and sold the extra in the market. Before this project, what we managed to harvest was not even enough for our own consumption. We are now planning to expand this activity by renting additional plots,” says Dasturgul. Through this project, Dasturgul learned how to increase farm productivity with good agricultural practices, such as integrated soil fertility management. She was also taught business strategies to help her market and sell her crops. Some 90 women in 21 districts of the country took part in the project. WFP ensured rural women like Dasturgul were included so that they could have an equal opportunity to improve their food security and income. Within this project, every production group was provided with tablets, and women participants created a WhatsApp group to keep in touch and share their experience and tips and offer each other support. “We know how to store agricultural products, how to use fertilizers, and the need to follow recommendations from agricultural experts. Now, I can tell with confidence that in my district, it is possible to harvest more than one time. For this, I want to thank JAWFP and WFP for their support,” concluded Dasturgul. Contributor: Nasrullo Ramazonov, WFP

As the world moves ahead to mark International Women’s Day, the clock on women’s rights is moving backwards. All of us are paying the price. The cascading crises of recent years have highlighted how women’s leadership is more crucial than ever. Women have heroically confronted the COVID-19 pandemic as doctors, nurses, and public health and social care workers.  But at the same time, women and girls have been the first to lose out on jobs or schooling, taking on more unpaid care work, and facing skyrocketing levels of domestic and cyber abuse and child marriage. The pandemic has highlighted even more starkly an age-old truth: the roots of patriarchy run deep. We still live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. As a result, in good times or bad, women are more likely to fall into poverty. Their healthcare is sacrificed and their education and opportunities are curtailed. And in countries enduring conflict — as we see from Ethiopia to Afghanistan to Ukraine -- women and girls are the most vulnerable but also the most compelling voices for peace. As we look to the future, a sustainable and equal recovery for all is only possible if it is a feminist recovery — one that puts progress for girls and women at its centre. We need economic progress through targeted investments in women’s education, employment, training and decent work. Women should be first in line for the 400 million jobs we are called to create by 2030. We need social progress through investments in social protection systems and the care economy. Such investments yield huge dividends, creating green, sustainable jobs, while supporting members of our societies that need assistance, including children, older people and the sick. We need financial progress, to reform a morally bankrupt global financial system, so all countries can invest in a woman-centred economic recovery. This includes debt relief and fairer tax systems that channel some of the massive pockets of wealth around the world to those who need it most. We need urgent, transformative climate action, to reverse the reckless increase in emissions and gender inequalities that have left women and girls disproportionately vulnerable. Developed countries must urgently deliver on their commitments on finance and technical support for a just transition from fossil fuels. The successful, stable economies of the future will be green, gender-inclusive and sustainable. We need more women in leadership in government and business, including finance ministers and CEOs, developing and implementing green and socially progressive policies that benefit all their people. We know, for example, that having more women in parliaments is linked with stronger climate commitments and higher levels of investment in healthcare and education. We need political progress through targeted measures that ensure women’s equal leadership and representation at all levels of political decision-making, through bold gender quotas. Gender inequality is essentially a question of power. Uprooting centuries of patriarchy demands that power is equally shared across every institution, at every level. At the United Nations, we have achieved — for the first time in the organization’s history — gender parity in senior management at headquarters and around the world. This has dramatically improved our ability to better reflect and represent the communities we serve. Every step of the way, we can take inspiration from women and girls pushing for progress in every sphere and every corner of our globe.  Young women climate campaigners are leading global efforts to pressure governments to live up to their commitments. Women’s rights activists are bravely demanding equality and justice, and building more peaceful societies as peacekeepers, peacemakers and humanitarians in some of the world’s trouble zones and beyond. In societies where women’s rights movements are vibrant, democracies are stronger. When the world invests in expanding opportunities for women and girls, all of humanity wins.  As a matter of justice, equality, morality and plain common sense, we need to turn the clock forward on women’s rights. We need a sustainable, feminist recovery centred around — and driven by — women and girls.