BSS :
Integrated participatory efforts of all government and non-government entities concerned have become crucial to combat the abuses of drugs along with its illicit trading and trafficking.
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.
Administrative officials and development activists in Rajshahi came up with the observations while addressing a virtual roundtable meeting with media personnel on Sunday.
Light House Consortium, Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Ashakta Punarbashan Sangstha (APOSH) and Nari O Shishu Kalyan Society (NSKS) jointly organised the meeting under ‘Drug Abuse Resistance and Understanding – DARAU’ project and Promoting Advocacy and Rights (PAR).
Counterpart International is extending technical support while USAID and UKAID financial support to the project being implemented in eight wards of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) and all nine upazilas in Rajshahi district and all six upazilas and four municipalities in Natore district.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Shariful Haque, Additional Director of the Department of Narcotics Control Zafrullah Kajal, Durgapur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohsin Mridha and Puthiya UNO Nurul Hai Muhammad Anas addressed the meeting as resource persons disseminating their expertise on the issue.
Light House Chief Executive Harun-Or-Rashid welcomed the participants with DAM Director (Health) Iqbal Masud in the chair while Umme Jannat, advocacy officer of DARAU Project, moderated the discussion.
Subrata Kumar Paul, monitoring, evaluation and learning coordinator of DARAU project, presented a keynote paper illustrating the aims and objectives of the project along with its implementation strategy.
In his remarks, Shariful Haque 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’ve to build a healthy society to achieve sustainable development goals,” he said, adding that the movement against drug abuse should be turned into a social movement to attain a desired yield.
According to the meeting, more than one lakh people both male and female have come forward and are working together to fight against drug abuse to protect the young generation from its devastating effects in Rajshahi and Natore districts.
To this end, various motivational and awareness programmes are being conducted for their capacity building besides boosting their level of confidence with intervention of the project.
Harun-Or-Rashid said 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.
The project is intended to benefit around four lakh people either directly or indirectly, he added.
