By the Philippine News Agency
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has offered to provide the Philippine government capacity building and technical assistance for the community-based treatment program of illegal drug surrenderers, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
Mr. Jeremy Douglas (center) meets with the Philippine Delegation to the 61st session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs held in Vienna, Austria. (DFA / MANILA BULLETIN)
The offer was made after the Philippines reaffirmed stronger ties with the UNODC on the sidelines of the 61st session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) last month and briefed the office about the government's efforts to rehabilitate surrenderers.
The Philippine delegation, co-headed by Secretary Catalino Cuy of the Dangerous Drugs Board and Ambassador and permanent representative Maria Cleofe Natividad, met with Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the UNODC for Southeast Asia and the Pacific on March 23.
During the discussions, Cuy provided Douglas with a brief background on the community-based treatment currently being implemented in the Philippines as a response to the overwhelming number of drug users who surrendered to the government.
Douglas "commended the country's efforts" and "offered support and cooperation" by providing capacity building and technical assistance programs to the government, the agency said.
Douglas also expressed support for a possible Philippine side event at the next session of the CND which assists in supervising the application of the international drug control treaties.
CND sessions are held annually, where more than a thousand delegates from governments, international organizations, civil society organizations, youth and the scientific community gather.