The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (ROMENA) and the Fund for Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction (FDCTA) within the Ministry of Social Solidarity organize a two-part regional workshop for the “Strong Families” and “Line Up! Live Up!” programs in Cairo from 22 to 26 May 2022. This comes within the framework of continuing coordination and cooperation between UNODC ROMENA and the FDCTA to exchange expertise and best practices in the field of Drug demand Reduction (DDR).
The workshops were attended by about 40 specialists from the participating countries who work in the field of preventing youth involvement in violence, crime, and drugs through sport, art, and psychosocial support. The participants came from the project’s countries in the Middle East and North Africa, namely: Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Libya, and Palestine.
This two-part workshop was in line with the Fund’s efforts toward “building the capacities of professionals working in the field of drug addiction prevention and treatment” with the help of international expertise in this field. The first part “Strong Families” focuses on building family skills, especially for those living in stressful contexts, bringing a sense of safety, promoting positive mental health, and building the resilience of children and youth in risky behavior such as drug use, and violence and crime. The second part, “Line Up! Live Up!” builds important personal, social, and emotional skills for young people to develop resilience to engaging or re-engaging in risky behaviors through various innovative methods involving sports.
The two-part workshop falls under a new regional project “Youth 4 Impact”, aimed at helping young men and women, including those marginalized and at risk, to become more empowered to face life’s challenges and to be more resilient against crime, violence, and drugs.
The project will be active over a period of two years in Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, and Sudan with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Development and Economic Cooperation.
This project falls in line with the National Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (2022 – 2026), which will be implemented by the Fund in consultation with national partners and approved by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Egypt, Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The President will participate in the launch of the National Plan as part of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking celebrations.
The launch ceremony was attended by Dr. Nevin Al-Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity (Egypt), Mr. Essam Al-Kadoumy, Secretary-General of Higher Council of Youth and Sports (Palestine), and Ms. Cristina Albertin, UNODC Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa.
In conjunction with the launch, a Memorandum of Understanding between UNODC ROMENA and the FDCTA was signed.
