Ambassador Omar Al-Barzanji meets with the Regional Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the Middle East and North Africa

30 Nov
ministry and missions 112

Ambassador Omar Al-Barzanji, the Regional Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the Middle East and North Africa, received Mrs. Christina Albertin, accompanied by the Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Iraq, Ambassador Ali Al-Barir, in his office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, on Tuesday 29\11\2022.

The meeting discussed frameworks for cooperation with international organizations, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In this context, Mrs. Christina Albertin stated that this is her third visit to Iraq, and that their office is working to support Iraq in all fields, including combating terrorism and corruption under the United Nations Convention against Corruption of 2003, as well as people smuggling and combating organized crime, and welcomed Iraq’s presidency of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime at its eleventh session, held at the International Center in Vienna for the period from 10-17/20/2022, and thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the efforts to enhance cooperation with the UN Office in Baghdad.

In turn, the Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Iraq, Ambassador Ali Al-Breir, praised the role of the ministry in coordinating with the competent Iraqi authorities, and that the office continues to train Iraqi staff specialized in the fields of combating terrorism and organized crime.

For his part, Ambassador Omar Al-Barzanji welcomed the visit of UN delegation and pointed out that terrorism and corruption are two sides one coin, and that Iraq values ​​the role of the United Nations in cooperation with Iraq in all fields, especially combating terrorism and organized crime, and that the Iraqi government looks forward to continuing to develop national capabilities in the areas of combating Terrorism and organized crime with international partners. The Ambassador referred to the heroism of the security forces in confronting terrorism, stressing the need to combat drugs that affect society, especially the youth.

The meeting was attended by the Director of the International Legal Affairs Department in the Ministry’s Legal Department, and the representative of the Anti-Terrorism Department.