Reducing the demand for drugs in Central Asia

The Central Asia Drug Action Programme (CADAP) is an initiative by the European Union (EU) aimed at reducing the demand for drugs through policies based on evidence and good practices to strengthen the capacities of the governments of the Central Asian countries to address the drug phenomenon in a comprehensive and sustainable way.

Launched in 2003, this programme has been organised into different phases. The EU, through its Delegation in Kyrgyzstan, has entrusted FIIAPP with the management of this seventh phase of the CADAP programme. This time there will be collaboration among the Spanish National Drug Plan (PNSD), the the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and other institutions in the EU member countries.

The general objective of CADAP 7 is to reduce drug use in Central Asia and improve access to quality drug demand reduction interventions, through a human rights-based approach and the incorporation of a gender perspective in all the programme’s actions.

For the next three and a half years, this phase will focus particularly on the new psychoactive substances, the spread of HIV, care for migrants, prevention of violence and drug use among young people, alternatives to incarceration for crimes related to drugs and in analysing the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic is having both on the drug market and on consumption patterns in Central Asian countries.  CADAP 7 reflects the continuity of the European Union’s policy on the issue and its long-term commitment to its Central Asian partners to strengthen their national policies on drug demand reduction and their alignment with the 2030 Agenda.