Dubai: The seventh Hemaya Forum against drugs concluded with a call to formalise a work programme across the Arab world to curb the supply and demand aspects of narcotics within the current decade.
The two-day international forum, in which delegates from all over the Arab world discussed drug-related challenges until 2020, concluded on Wednesday in the presence of Major General Khamis Al Mazeinah, deputy chief of Dubai Police.
The forum's recommendations included a call to the general secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers Council to continue to evolve an Arab strategy to combat the illegal use of narcotics and psychotropic substances and to monitor its implementation and results.
Developing security, legislative and administrative frameworks in Arab countries and the exchange of expertise and information between anti-narcotics bodies was also recommended.
Further recommendations included monitoring money laundering and statistics related to drugs and benefiting from the work mechanism of the GCC Security Information Centre.
A call was made to activate Arab cooperation in training and human resources development and setting up specialised training centres. Increasing the number of rehabilitation centres to treat drug abuse was also mooted.
