UN backs training on harmful use of narcotics in Afghanistan

24 May 2010 – The United Nations is supporting a series of training programmes in Afghanistan for educators so they can then impart knowledge on the harmful effects of drug use, including the risk of HIV/AIDS infection, to their peers, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported today.

Drug abuse in Afghanistan was traditionally limited. However, due to internal and external displacement caused by more than 30 years of conflict, crisis-coping mechanisms have broken down and addiction rates have soared, according to UNAMA.

Recent data from John Hopkins University and NACP have confirmed fears that Afghanistan has evolved towards a HIV epidemic, concentrated among narcotics abusers.

Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has partnered with the international media development organization, Internews, to launch a 30-minute radio series to promote the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) within Afghanistan.

The Child’s Home Radio Magazine is being broadcast in Dari and Pashto languages via Salam Watandar, a network of 42 community radios nationwide. - UN backs training on harmful use of narcotics in Afghanistan

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