6th Accord Taskforce Meeting On Civic Awareness And Demand Reduction Starts Today
By Lyna Mohamad

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam through its Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) will be hosting the two-day 6th Accord Taskforce Meeting on Civic Awareness and Demand Reduction, which the NCB Director Dato Paduka Hj Abd Majid Mangarshah is scheduled to officially open today at the Rizqun International Hotel in Gadong.

Accord, which stands for the Asean China Cooperative Operation in Response to Dangerous Drugs, rests on four pillars:

• Civic Awareness: proactively advocating civic awareness on the dangers of drugs as well as social response.
• Building consensus and sharing the best practices on demand reduction.
• Strengthening rules and laws by enhanced network control measures and improved enforcement cooperation as well as legislative review.
• Eliminating the supply of illicit drugs by boosting alternative development programmes and community participation in the eradication of illicit crops.

The Taskforce on Alternative Development aims to reduce the supply of raw materials for drug production and consequently consolidate a licit economy, allowing regions to return to the mainstream of the country's economic and social developments.

While other Asean countries are concentrating on the fourth and last pillar, Brunei is the only country that does not have the production of illicit crops or drugs.

Today's meeting will be chaired by NCB's Deputy Director Hj Abd Aziz OKMB Hj Othman and Senior Foreign Relations Officer of ONCB Thailand Mrs Oranooch Sungkhawanna.

Also expected to be in attendance are representatives from Asean countries, plus China and the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).

UNODC, established in 1997, is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime.

It has approximately 500 staff members globally, with its headquarters located in Vienna along with 20 field-offices,-as well as liaison offices in New York and Brussels. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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