On October 27-28, 2012, a Roundtable Discussion on Implementing a Shan State Response to Alternative Development and Other Illicit Drugs was held between the Government, UNODC and RCSS at the City Hall in Tachilek.
This is the first ever meeting the agreement has been reached on the topic since it was included as the first point of the 12 point agreement signed between the government and RCSS at the second union level meeting held in Kengtung on May 19 2012.
The 9 point agreement reached at the roundtable discussion.
- To conduct a government, UNODC and RCSS joint need assessment in the townships of Mong Nai and Mong Pan of Shan State.
- Based on the data from the needs assessments, to conduct a joint selection by the Government, UNODC and RCSS of alternative development pilot locations in these two townships.
- To jointly undertake community consultations in pilot locations as part of a joint alternative development programme design process for these selected pilot locations.
- To implement this process as soon as possible under a joint Government, UNODC and RCSS partnership in these selected pilot locations.
- UNODC will provide technical assistance to the Government and the RCSS in support of these alternative development processes.
- UNODC will discuss with international donors to get the funding currently needed in joint selected pilot project locations.
- RCSS will keep the local people as well as its members informed about protection against dangers of drugs, reduction and total eradication of opium cultivation, cooperation in the control of drugs and implementation of the crop substitution project.
- For effective implementation of joint control of narcotic drugs and alternative development projects, the Myanmar Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), Shan State Police Force and RCSS will each appoint contact persons and exchange information through emails, telephones and other appropriate means.
- Security issues in the joint CCDAC-UNODC and RCSS crop substitution project sites will be presented to the higher authorities.
To be able to effectively make implementation of the agreement reached, RCSS, for the point 9 of the agreement, has requested government-RCSS security cooperation at the AD pilot locations to ensure security.
