DUSHANBE, Tajikistan -

On 22-24 April, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Miroslav Jenča, made a visit to Dushanbe (Tajikistan) to open the international seminar "Challenges in addressing the illicit drugs problem in Central Asia in the context of withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan in 2014", organized by UNRCCA in cooperation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and with support of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The event was organized within the framework of the Centre's strategic dialogue series on important topics related to security and stability in the region. It gathered participants from the Institutes of Strategic Studies and other relevant state structures of the Central Asian countries, as well as representatives from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia the United States, regional organizations and independent experts.

The seminar covered a wide range of issues related to the influence of illegal drugs on security in the region and possible ways to jointly counter the threat of drugs. Much attention has been paid to the problem of drug production in Afghanistan, possible internal developments in the country in the context of the upcoming withdrawal of the international coalition in 2014. Based on the analysis of the drug situation in the region, participants elaborated concrete recommendations for strengthening the efforts of States and the international community in order to achieve an effective solution to the problem of illegal drugs.