Drug Control

Helmand Province Counter-Narcotics Public Information Project: 2006

Almost 92% of the heroin consumed in Europe and other countries comes from Afghanistan. Within Afghanistan, Helmand is the largest opium poppy producer. According to the survey jointly conducted by the UNODC and the Ministry of Counter Narcotics of the Government of Afghanistan, there are estimated one million drug abusers in the country, out of which approximately 131,371 are in the Southern zone, with around 35,000 are from Helmand province.

WADAN with funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) developed this project with the goal to inform and work to empower men, women and children in Helmand province to effectively reduce the cultivation, production, trafficking, and use of illicit drugs. We want to establish a desire from the grassroots for an Afghan society freed from the effects that illicit drugs pose to lives, social values, image, and to national security.

The objective of this project was to provide home-based and community-based anti-narcotic education, to present and reinforce the teaching of Islam regarding illicit and profane substances, and to advocate the development of an operational community network to reinforce and disseminate anti-narcotic messages, and to involve community leaders in drug control initiatives that will influence people to cooperate with all national and international drug control organizations.

We used items necessary to daily life: teapots and thermos jugs, tablecloths, wall clocks and calendars and wall hangings and notebooks and schoolbags for children that carried counter-narcotic themes and messages. Pictograms were used to communicate effectively to the large illiterate portion of the population. These peripherals were designed to constantly present lessons to encourage absorption of the counter-narcotic message. In 2006, this was the most workable approach as the use of these items need not be public knowledge and should not have subjected anyone to undue risk from unfriendly force.

The primary target groups of this project were the influential local leaders, religious scholars, farmers, the media outlets, elected officials, the general public of Helmand, as well as local government officials. The cooperation of all these groups is vital for effective drug control initiatives. The project was designed to take into account all local codes of conduct. WADAN coordinated with local leaders with this project, as they are influential in their areas in an aim to minimize the security risks inherent in local distribution programs in Helmand. Members of the National Maliks Association, WADAN personnel, and local leaders were all involved in making this a project that was welcomed by the people of Helmand.












Updated on: May 3, 2010