2022-03-31

Second Workshop on Youth Crime and Drug use Prevention in Tashkent

On 29-30 March, the Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, in cooperation with the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, jointly hosted the second workshop on youth crime and drug use prevention in Tashkent.

Dr. Alexander Wolters welcomed participants and expressed his appreciation for their valuable input in understanding the best ways forward to counter and take measures against corruption, organized crime, cybercrime and the use of drugs. Project manager Eni Gjergji referred to the speech of Akbar Tagaev, Head of the Department of Spiritual and Moral Education of Youth at the Ministry of Public Education, during the first workshop, conducted on 9 March, and highlighted “Investing in the prevention of crime, corruption and drug use is more effective than fighting its consequences.”  Eni Gjergji emphasized “We need to expand knowledge of young people to strengthen their immunity against organized crime, corruption and drug use.”

During the two-day seminar representatives of the Department of Social and Political Activity and Development of Legal Literacy of the Center for Spirituality and Education under the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education, Center for Systematic Analysis and Study of the Causes of Crimes, Academy of the General Prosecutor's Office, as well as secondary school teachers, university professors and civil society representatives discussed their potential capacity needs in the field of preventing youth crime, corruption and drug use. Participants also identified priorities and thematic areas for future trainings.

The event will be followed by the development of a needs-tailored training-of-trainers programme, which is designed to train state actors, teachers, professors, and members of civil society on the use of the UNODC Education4Justice and Global Programme on Prevention materials. The materials provide educators guidance on the effective ways of training youth on the threats of organized crime, corruption and drug use.

The workshop was held in the framework of the OSCE-wide project “Enhancing youth crime and drug use prevention through education on legality and awareness campaigns addressing threats of organized crime and corruption”. The project aims to prevent transnational organized crime, corruption and drug use, by complementing criminal justice efforts and promoting respect for the rule of law through education.

This extra-budgetary cross- dimensional project is funded by Germany.