Cambodia's Ministry of Culture Urges Consistent Drug Prevention Outreach and Reporting by Provincial Departments

The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has instructed provincial departments to continuously conduct outreach on drug abuse issues and regularly report their progress to the ministry. This directive was issued during the opening ceremony of a workshop themed "Together We Prevent and Combat Drug and E-cigarette Issues and Promote the Use of the NoDrug App," held at the Secondary School of Fine Arts on July 30, 2026. Ms. Longdy Sannara, Secretary of State, representing H.E. Dr. Pheng Sithorn, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, praised the efforts of the ministry's leadership and teams in educational outreach, prevention, and suppression activities against drug abuse. She also warmly welcomed the participation of officials, teachers, and students, especially representatives from the provincial departments of Culture and Fine Arts from all 25 provinces and Phnom Penh, who traveled from afar. This demonstrates their high attention and active participation in the fight against drugs. Ms. Sannara explained that the workshop's objective is to disseminate information on preventing, combating, and eradicating drug use and trafficking, particularly among youth and students at the Secondary School of Fine Arts. This will enable them to further spread the information to a wider audience. Furthermore, the workshop will provide a clearer understanding of how to prevent oneself from falling into the trap of drug use, which destroys futures, harms health, and causes numerous problems for families and the nation as a whole. The workshop will also demonstrate how to download and use the "NoDrug" app, a program designed for reporting information about individuals involved in drug use or trafficking to the authorities, allowing for swift action. This is a contribution to eliminating drug problems at the local level, where students directly witness these issues. Ms. Longdy Sannara emphasized that the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is diligently implementing the first phase of the Pentagonal Strategy, actively collaborating with the National Authority for Combating Drugs in its campaign against drug trafficking, in line with the decisive measures of the government of the 7th legislature of the National Assembly. Specifically, she noted that both the ministry and provincial departments have consistently disseminated information on drug issues through monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports submitted to a dedicated Telegram group. However, Ms. Sannara also observed that not all provincial departments have submitted their reports, with a few still missing, and encouraged the remaining departments to submit them promptly. Moreover, Ms. Sannara highlighted six provincial departments that have demonstrated significant outreach efforts in 2025 and the first half of 2026. For 2025, these were the departments of Kratie, Stung Treng, and Takeo provinces. For the first half of 2026, the departments of Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk, and Kampong Thom provinces were recognized. Additionally, four departments—Kandal, Prey Veng, Ratanakiri, and Phnom Penh—were commended for their excellent reporting, which included detailed summaries of monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual figures, as well as breakdowns by gender and total outreach sessions, making it easier for the secretariat's team to compile the data. The "NoDrug" app is a mobile application developed by the National Authority for Combating Drugs to combat illegal drugs in Cambodia. Its primary purpose is to disseminate information, educate, and encourage public participation in the fight against drug problems.