UNDP holds first counter-narcotics workshop for Afghan legislators

With poppy cultivation a serious and growing problem in Afghanistan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has lead a workshop for members of the counter-narcotics commissions of both houses of the country’s National Assembly.

The workshop, part of a joint project between UNDP and Support to the Establishment of the Afghan Legislature (SEAL), is the first in a series designed to assist Assembly commission members in their work.

The Minister of Counter Narcotics and representatives of the Ministry of Justice, as well as members of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) were among those in attendance at Sunday’s workshop.

“The success with which the drug problem is tackled in Afghanistan will affect the lives of each and every Afghan citizen,” said John Patterson, Project Manager of SEAL.

This year 370,650 acres of opium poppy were cultivated in Afghanistan, compared with 257,000 acres last year, according to UNDP. Enough opium was produced in Afghanistan last year to make 450 tons of heroin, or nearly 90 per cent of the world’s supply.