The Maldives has signed a memorandum of understanding between the European Union (EU) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The deal includes an aid package worth €1.5 million over two and a half years to strengthen the country’s response to drug abuse.
Foreign minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed said the money, which comes from the EU and would be in the hands of UNODC, will mostly be used to help with the rehabilitation of drug addicts, make people aware of the relationship between HIV and drug use.
Dr Shaheed signed the agreement at a ceremony yesterday with EU Ambassador Varnerd Savage and representative of the UNODC Regional Office South Asia, Cristina Albertin.
Speaking at the ceremony, Varnard said the program would strengthen the national response to combating drug abuse in the Maldives, and would target the major problem areas of drugs and crime.
Albertin said 10 per cent of the Maldivian population is affected by drug abuse, and that UNODC hoped the program would assist in the country’s enforcement of drug laws.
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Chairperson of the Society for Women Against Drugs (SWAD) Fathmath Aafiya said she hoped the project would not end up like the government’s previous ‘WAKE-UP’ program.
”The government does not do sufficient work to reduce the number of drug importers,” she said, criticising the government’s lenient treatment of dealers by placing some under house arrest and letting others go free.
Aafiya said the government had “a lot of work to do” to reduce the importation of drugs into the country.
SWAD was expecting the new program to be beneficial, she added, as it would increase the aftercare and rehabilitation of drug users.
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More than 10% of Maldivians are affected by drug abuse. A UNODC representative needs to be more sensitive to the language she uses. Just say it. 10% are addicts.
"Affected by drug abuse" - 100% of Maldivians are affected by drug abuse! Crime rates have been soring for years, and every single one of us knows at least a couple drug addicts. Every family in Male' is likely to have at least one member of their household addicted to drugs. These aren't just any drug, in many cases it is heroin (brown sugar). And over the last couple years the number of people using intravenous
drugs have been sky rocketing, without any response from either administration.
Aafiya my dear, it's not the government it is police incompetency, but also there’s responsibility that government has to bear, I am surprised by how some are tricked by the mechanism of DEU police. They go after miniature peddlers in order to hoodwink people dr. waheed who has no understanding of drugs situation especially in male “kukulheh athunujehuniyaa fiyokeves rangalhu vane”, also to get media attention, the police haven’t caught any significant character in drug dealing , which everybody else in male is aware of!! (They have detained only 2 major dealers to my knowledge, but we are living in 1 mile radius, is this a riddle??, ) At the end of the day President nasheed will have the record for arresting half of our youth population and would generate a havoc in prisons,