First South Caucasus Drug Situation Report Launched
South Caucasus Anti-Drug Programme (SCAD) Meets in Tbilisi, assesses SCAD activities in 2005 and adopts work plan for 2006

Tbilisi, Georgia, 3 February 2006 - Steering Committee of the South Caucasus Anti-Drug Programme (SCAD) comprising of the representatives of the EU, UNDP and the Governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia met today in Tbilisi to assess the implementation of the Programme during 2005.

Presentation of the results of the fourth phase of the Programme (SCAD IV) embraced projects of legal assistance, border management, police intelligence and drug information systems.

It was announced that all the three countries made amendments in the current legislation to meet international standards in the field of drug control. Besides, new laws were adopted with support of the task force of SCAD programme. The Law adopted in Azerbaijan on Psychotropic Substances and Pre-cursors was cited by the regional management of the Programme as a major success.

Speaking on behalf of the Government of Azerbaijan, Mr. Hazi Aslanov, Chief of the Anti-Drug Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted that fighting drugs was a one of the priorities for the law-enforcement bodies of his country. "Much has been done in strengthening the legislative basis of drug control, respective State Commission was established and civil society organizations are involved in anti-drug activities". Mr. Aslanov noted that the Government was closely cooperating with the UN in the field of drug control. In particular, he referred to the successful implementation of the SCAD programme. "All the previous phases have been successfully implemented. The project forged closer inter-agency cooperation between sea, air and land border services of the country, which is an achievement. Assistance within SCAD also allowed for the application of new drug control technologies".

One of the successes of the SCAD programme was the establishment of drug abuse monitoring systems (DAMOS) in all the three republics, said Mr. Paul Cook, SCAD's DAMOS project leader. "Vibrant drug information systems are meant to help Governments to make informed decisions" stressed Mr. Cook. "Reliable information is the driving force of policy, without it, the Governments are in danger of making wrong decisions, especially on resource allocation".

The participants of the meeting also welcomed the establishment of NGO networks dealing with drug prevention and harm reduction in the three countries within the NGO Networking project under SCAD Programme. EU expert Jan Vorisek made a presentation on the results of NGO anti-drug activities in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The meeting also discussed the possible elements of SCAD 5 phase of the programme. A proposal was made to introduce drug crime indicators based on the methodology of EUROPOL in the SCAD drug information systems and launch early warning system to contain information on new drugs. As the influx of new drugs to the region become a threat, it is crucial to prevent the proliferation.

At the end of the meeting, the Steering Committee adopted a resolution assessing the implementation of SCAD programme in 2005 as adequate and endorsing the work-plan for February-May 2006 and the plan of conducting evaluation missions during SCAD 5.


For more information contact:
Mr. Mezahir Efendiyev
SCAD National Coordinator
Tel.: +99412 493 15 13
E-mail: mezahir.efendiyev@un.in-baku.com

Presentation on Drug Situation in Southern Caucasus

Presentation on NGOs Networking Projects in Georgia and Azerbaijan