National Desk :
Full-length support of the community in general and leaders of influences in particular can be the effective means of freeing the society from abuse of drugs along with its illicit trade and trafficking.
Creation of mass-awareness about the curse of drug-abuses coupled with its fatal consequences has become crucial to mitigate the social disease, Reports BSS.
Social watchdogs and development activists came up with the observations while addressing the ‘District Civil Society Organization (CSO) Network Consultation Meeting’ at Hotel Warisan in Rajshahi city on Monday.
Light House Consortium hosted the meeting under its ‘Drug Abuse Resistance and Understanding- DARAU’ project in association with Promoting Advocacy and Rights (PAR) Project.
SM Monwar Hossain, Manager of DARAO Project, gave an overview of the project along with its aims, objectives and implementation strategy during his multimedia presentation.
He told the meeting that Light House Consortium, Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Ashakta Punarbashan Sangstha (APOSH) and Nari O Shishu Kalyan Society (NSKS) are jointly implementing the DARAO project.
Counterpart International is extending technical support while USAID and UKAID financial support to the project being implemented in eight wards of Rajshahi City Corporation and all nine upazilas in Rajshahi district and all six upazilas and four municipalities in Natore district.
Chief Executive of Light House Harun-Or-Rashid addressed the meeting as focal person with Network Convener Prof Dipakendra Nath Das in the chair.
Former Additional Registrar of Rajshahi University Ahmed Safi Uddin, Executive Director of Barendra Unnayan Prochesta Foyzullah Chowdhury, Chairman of Save the Nature and Life Mijanur Rahman, former Deputy Director of the Department of Social Services Pear Baksha and Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Coordinator of DARAU Project Subrata Kumar Paul also spoke.
The discussants opined that collective participation of all government and non-government organizations concerned has become an urgent need for freeing the society from abuse of drugs. As a whole, there is no alternative to make all the existing movements and efforts of preventing drug abuse effective and fruitful to protect the young generation from further degradation.
In his remarks, Prof Dipakendra Nath Das said the present government has a declaration of zero tolerance against drug-addiction and urged all quarters to come forward to protect the young generation from the grip of social crime.
“We have to build a healthy society to achieve sustainable development goals,” he said, adding the movement against drug abuse should be turned into a social movement.
Harun-Or-Rashid told the meeting that cross-sections of people including women, parents, school and out-of-school children, adolescents, youth, transgender, public representatives and members of the civil society are being engaged in the anti-drug abuse campaign.
He said the project is intended to benefit around four lakh people either directly or indirectly.
Around 35 persons consisting members of the civil society, professional leaders, journalists and development activists from various stakes concerned joined the meeting.
