Minutes of the 4th Advisory Board Meeting of NIOC
Meeting of the 4th Advisory Board (AB) of the National Initiative against Organized Crimes (NIOC) was held at Islamabad Club on February 07, 2020 in which several important decisions were taken by the Board. AB approved the Minutes of the 3rd AB Meeting held on 17 Jan 2020.
The meeting started with the opening remarks of Director NIOC, Mr. Tariq Khosa, in which he said that a comprehensive strategy on the four focus areas of the NIOC will be issued by the end of April (end of pilot phase of the project). He informed the AB that one Analysis Paper on Drug Trafficking and two policy briefs on Afghan Drug’s impact on Pakistan and Domestic Drug Abuse Menace were prepared and shared with the JS MNC for peer review and further feedback or professional input. Mr Khosa further said that with the AB’s permission, it can be shared with UNODC as well.
It was discussed that SSP Dadu, Mr. Farukh Raza of Sindh Police, is holding a drug awareness declamation contest during February among the college and school students of interior Sindh. Mr Zubair Habib, AB Member and Head of CPLC was requested to represent NIOC.
Mr. Zubair Habib apprised that Board that in collaboration with ANF, CPLC has established a Helpline against Drugs. He also informed the AB that CPLC has supported ANF to hire psychologists who will visit schools and colleges to sensitize youth on the harms of drugs abuse. A drug abuse survey among students of Karachi was also to be conducted by CPLC in collaboration with the ANF. To this, Member AB Fasih Zaka opined that the proposed survey should also find out which drug is in vogue among youth. This would help us focus on our communications strategy, he added.
AB President, Mr. Tariq Parvez, opined that narco-trade was perceived to be contributing to terror financing. He further said that FATF had pointed out that TF understanding is different among different stakeholders. ANF survey should also find out that how much drug financing is being used in the TF. His argument was supported by Mr. Fasih Zaka who opined that the use of dodgy data should be avoided.
JS MNC was requested to share write-up on the Initiative Zindagi (Life) launched recently by MNC/ANF with the approval of the Prime Minister. NIOC would like to give wider publicity to this important initiative.
Director NIOC sought approval of AB to hold 2-day International Conference on Organized Crime at Islamabad Club on 21-22 March 2020. Three experts from Near East South Asia Study Centre (NESA) of NDU Washington would be invited along with some members of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime from Vienna. Secretary NIOC Amir Rana and his PIPS team were requested to organize the event according to international standards. He will issue invitation emails to foreign experts on NIOC/PIPS Letterhead. Names, designations and email addresses would be provided to him by Director NIOC. A list of participants and special guests for inaugural session would also be finalized by both Director and Secretary NIOC for formal approval in the 5th NIOC AB Meeting on Friday 6 March 2020. It was agreed by the Board that a total of four panel sessions, one on each focus area of Organized Crimes undertook by NIOC, will take place in the international conference. Only the inaugural session of the conference will be open for selected media coverage.
It was also agreed that the Analysis Paper on each focus area of the NIOC should preferably be ready by March 15, 2020.
Outline of TF Paper was presented by Consultant/Adviser Kashif Noon. President AB suggested a framework and sent an outline for preparing the draft report by Monday 17 Feb 2020.
NIOC Brochure came under discussion during the meeting. Some suggestions were made. Secretary NIOC, Mr. Amir Rana will finalize it soon so that the Brochure can be sent along with invitations for March international conference.
NIOC Newsletter for Jan 2020 was approved. It was to be circulated through PIPS Mailing List. Regarding NIOC Website, the AB was informed by Mr. Amir Rana that it will be completely redesigned according to international standards.
The Directorate will have a review meeting to sort out all logistical and administrative arrangements for the international conference during the third or last week of Feb 2020.
Decisions:
- Hold 2-day International Conference against Organized Crime at Islamabad Club on 21-22 March 2020
- Improve the design and quality of NIOC Brochure
- Redesign the NIOC website
- Prepare Analysis Paper on each focus area of the NIOC preferably be ready by March 15, 2020
- Preparing the draft report of TF paper by Monday 17 Feb 2020
In Attendance:
- Tariq Parvez (President AB)
- Zubair Habib (Member AB)
- Zahid Hussain (Member AB)
- Mr Fasi Zaka (Member AB)
- Mr Tariq Khosa (Director NIOC)
- Mr Amir Rana (Secretary NIOC)
- Kashif Noon (Consultant NIOC)
- Sabino S Jalal (JS, MNC)
- Hassan Sardar (Admin and Finance Manager, NIOC)
Mr. Ahsan Hamid Durrani (Manager Projects, PIPS)