PDEA, UNODC sign declaration of cooperation
THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has signed a Declaration of Cooperation in the areas of health, counter-illicit drugs, counter-terrorism, transnational organized crime, anti-corruption, human rights and criminal justice this month, officials announced on Thursday.
PDEA chair Director General Moro Virgilio M. Lazo and Ms. Jo-Ann de Belen, a UNODC Senior National Programme Officer who represented UNODC Senior Resident Policy Adviser signed the document.
Under the agreement, PDEA and UNODC mutually expressed common interests to co-develop, institutionalize training and education, and research projects on human rights-based approaches on drugs, transnational crimes, cybercrimes and financial crimes.
During the signing of the agreement, the UNODC also donated to PDEA 35 Acer tablet computers each containing 80 training modules on human rights-based approaches against illegal drugs.
According to Director General Lazo, these portable devices will surely boost the training capabilities of the PDEA Academy- the institution responsible for the recruitment and training of future PDEA Drug Enforcement Officers (DEOs), and active administrative and technical personnel.
UNODC is a global leader in promoting global peace and security, human rights and development by making the world safer from drugs, crime, corruption and terrorism.
Lazo assured the UNODC officials that PDEA, being the country’s lead agency against illegal drugs, is ensuring that the government’s war on drugs is being carried out with strict adherence to the rule of law, and respect of life and human dignity that is compliant with the international human rights standards.
Also in attendance during the program were Ms. Signe Poulsen, a Senior Human Rights Advisor of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights; PDEA Deputy Director General for Administration, Assistant Secretary Israel Ephraim Dickson and PDEA Deputy Director General for Operations, Asec. Pierre Bucsit.
