BUMAD 3: EU Assistance in Fighting Drug Abuse

"Programme for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and the Fight Against Drug Trafficking in Belarus , Ukraine and Moldova " (BUMAD) is one of the most successful joint projects between Belarus and the European Union. It has been financed by the European Commission since 2003 and is implemented within the framework of the UNDP in Belarus , Ukraine and Moldova .

This comprehensive project targets the fight against illegal drug trafficking and is one of the few European projects of special interest of the Belarusian authorities since drug-trafficking and drug addiction are issues of material importance, transcending politics. The significance of this issue is evident from statistics:- around 3.5 thousand Belarusians are currently imprisoned for drug-related offences and according to estimates by the Ministry of Healthcare there are around 55 thousand drug addicts in the country. This makes EU assistance in fighting drug-trafficking highly applicable.

 Europe is interested in the project due to the fact that heroin and marijuana are smuggled into Europe from Asia and Afghanistan via Belarus , Ukraine and Moldova . There is also a reverse current of synthetic drugs flowing into Russia from the West which the Europeans wish to interdict.

What has been done

During the five years of its active implementation BUMAD has taught our country a great deal regarding fighting drug-trafficking. Belarus has received assistance in areas such as: equipment for law enforcement agencies, training of customs officers and border-guards, general education materials, training and seminars and in the establishment of a Belarusian Centre for monitoring drugs and drug abuse and an information network on drugs. Much progress has already been achieved within the framework of projects BUMAD 1, BUMAD 2 and BUMAD 3. Overall the European Union has disbursed 2 mln 130 thousand Euro in support of these three projects.

Finalizing BUMAD 3

The implementation of the third project will be completed by the end of this year but there is still time left to make material progress and a lot is planned to be done, says the Project Manager of BUMAD 3 Mrs. Irina Zhigalko:

"I shall only list some events: three seminars on prevention of drug abuse for social workers from all oblasts of Belarus were organized on how to use interactive techniques and theatrical elements in prevention of drug addiction in schools. On 26 June in Minsk , Gomel , Mogilev , Zhlobin, Rechitsa, Lida, Svetlogorsk, Saligorsk and Pinsk a National film (festival) will be held devoted to the International Day of Fighting against Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse.

In October, with BUMAD assistance, experts of the Forensic Centre will take part in a special training event regarding the profiling of amphetamines in the Forensic Laboratory of the Swedish Criminal Police. In autumn law-enforcers will participate in a regional seminar in Moldova on detecting underground laboratories.

We plan to purchase more sniffer dogs, special cars for transporting dogs to the scenes of crimes and to organize training in Germany for Belarusian dog handlers on the methodology of training dogs to detect illegal drugs.

In the immediate future the Belarusian Centre for the Monitoring of Drug Abuse will launch a National Sociological Research project on the use of psychotropic substances (alcohol and drugs) among 16 year old school children using the ESPAD technology. This survey will be held once every four years in the majority of  European countries. Its results should reveal the reasons behind the use of psychotropic substances by young people, identify the most 'popular' substances for abuse, enumerate typical sources and also identify specific risk groups and trends in drug use. This will be the first research of its kind on this scale and will provide better insight into what is happening in the youth environment and supply evidence for the development of recommendations on prevention of the spread of drug addiction".

Better than in Ukraine

Would it be correct to say that BUMAD has been a significant factor in restraining the spread of drug abuse in Belarus ? Perhaps so, given that it has provides a stable framework which facilitates control by the law-enforcement agencies.

Mrs. Zhigalko agrees with this: "The situation regarding drug abuse appears less worrying when compared with Ukraine and Moldova due to a number of economic and political factors and certainly thanks to the BUMAD project. However this would be easier to quantify if the Belarusian Centre for Monitoring starts working on research projects; we should then be able to see the real scope of the effects".

What happens after the project ends?

Belarusian law-enforcement, civic authorities and project coordinators hope for launch of BUMAD 4 from the EU side.

"This is the only project applying a holistic approach to addressing this issue. It mobilises supports and empowers a full range of representatives of our society in both state and civil sectors. Unfortunately there is no information as yet that the European Commission is planning to finance BUMAD 4. However we hope for this follow up project and will do everything possible to secure the support of the European Union. The National Implementing Agency (Ministry of Interior) sent a letter to EU Commissar Benita Ferrero-Waldner requesting a review of the possibility for further financial support of BUMAD. A similar letter was also sent by Ukrainian Prime-Minister Mrs. Julia Timoshenko", says the project manager.

The UNDP is also working on fundraising for the project.

The first three stages of BUMAD concentrated on improving law-enforcement structures. BUMAD 4 would mainly address the issues of prevention of drug abuse and support for Non-governmental organisaitons working in the area of rehabilitation of drug addicts. When there is no demand there is no supply. The programme envisages continuing to provide technical assistance and training for experts of the State Forensic Centre of the Ministry of Interior and regional laboratories, howver the Canine service and the Belarusian Centre for Monitoring need support as well", says Mrs. Zhigalko.

By Natalia Sharai, [email protected]