Cairo, February 08 (QNA) - The General Secretariat of the Arab League held on Sunday a coordination meeting on the establishment of an Arab Drug Observatory at its headquarters in Cairo.

The meeting was organized in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, the European Union project for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The creation of the Arab Drug Observatory is part of the "Arab Shield" initiative launched by the Council of Arab Interior Ministers in 2019.

The initiative includes several programs aimed at enhancing law enforcement efficiency to reduce drug demand. The observatory’s framework was developed after reviewing the perspectives of member states, including input from their ministries of health.

The observatory aims to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs through innovative awareness campaigns, strengthen scientific research mechanisms in the field of drugs and psychoactive substances, monitor trends, patterns, and trafficking routes related to drug distribution in Arab countries, and provide accurate and reliable data to inform public policies on drug control.

In this context, Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, emphasized the need for cooperation between Arab ministries of health and customs authorities with the Council of Arab Interior Ministers to establish the Arab Drug Observatory.

The Council of Arab Health Ministers, during its 63rd ordinary session held on 18 December last year in Libya, highlighted the significance of establishing the observatory and tasked its technical secretariat with continuing coordination with the General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers to implement this project. (QNA)