Bangkok--Mar 3--UNISBKK
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed to extend their cooperation in areas such as fighting illicit drugs, money-laundering and corruption.
ADB is a major development institution in the Asia and Pacific region,
which seeks to foster economic growth, good governance, human resource
development and the alleviation of poverty. UNODC has a mandate to promote
and implement international agreements on drugs, transnational crime and
corruption in the context of sustainable development and human security.
UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa and ADB President Haruhiko
Kuroda signed a Letter of Intent in Manila on 27 February in which they
agreed to work together with their partner countries in areas such as
education on drug abuse, illicit crop monitoring and border controls.
Specific areas of cooperation could include alternative development
projects in Afghanistan and Laos - designed to give former opium farmers
new sources of income - regional border management projects in Central
Asia and combating the spread of HIV/AIDS, especially among drug-users and
prisoners.
"Together our two organizations can help the countries of Asia develop
the sound policies and programmes necessary to ensure sustainable
development and combat crime," Mr. Costa said. "Strengthening the rule of
law and good governance will be critical."
UNODC and ADB already work together on alternative development in Laos
and in anti-money-laundering activities in Viet Nam.
For information contact:
Richard Murphy,
Chief, Advocacy Section, UNODC
Telephone: +43 1 260 60 5761
E-mail: [email protected]
United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS)
P.O.Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43 1 260 60 - 3430; Fax: +43 1 260 60 7 5899
Email: [email protected]
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