OSCE organizes workshop on youth crime and drug use prevention in Kyrgyzstan

On 24 and 25 January, the Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, in co-operation with the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, jointly hosted a two-day workshop on youth crime and drug use prevention in Bishkek.

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.

During the workshop, representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy and the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as secondary school teachers, university professors and civil society representatives discussed trends, challenges and best practices on preventing youth drug use and involvement in and exploitation by organized crime and corruption. Participants also identified capacity needs for further training in the respective field.

Project managers Eni Gjergji and Denise Mazzolani said: “It is crucial to bring all relevant actors in youth crime and drug use prevention together. Only through their exchange of challenges and best practices, can we ensure co-ordinated efforts and identify priority areas for capacity-building.” They further emphasized: “The OSCE stands ready to continue to support the Kyrgyz Republic in strengthening its capacities in educating youth on the threats of organized crime, corruption and drug use to foster a sustainable and effective culture of lawfulness and integrity.”

In close co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, the workshop 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.

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