African Governments Respond To Illicit
Drug Trafficking And Abuse
Will hold ministerial meeting to map out Drug Control
Strategy
18 April 2002
Vienna -- A new strategy and action plan
for drug control in Africa -- which is to commit African Governments
and regional organizations to stronger and more decisive action
against drug trafficking and abuse -- will be the main focus of
the Ministerial Meeting on Drug Control in Africa, to be held
May 6-11 in Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire.
This, according to the U.N. Office of Drug
Control and Crime Prevention which made the announcement April
15, will be the first ever Ministerial Meeting on Drug Control
in Africa organized by the Organization for African Unity (OAU)
and hosted by the Government of Cote d'Ivoire.
Several international organizations and donors,
the announcement notes, have pledged support to the OAU for this
meeting. The United Nations International Drug Control Program
(UNDCP) works directly with the OAU secretariat in the preparation
of the conference and an exhibition on drugs in Africa during
the meeting.
Three recent incidents highlight the increasing
drug trafficking and organized crime problems in Africa, the announcement
notes.
On March 16, 2002, South African law enforcement
authorities found, amid mustard, pepper and cans of fish, 350kg
of cocaine on board a container vessel that came from Latin America
through the Caribbean to Cape Town. Just two weeks later, a luxury-cruiser
anchoring at Durban port was raided for suspected drug concealment.
Also in March 2002, Austrian and Dutch authorities succeeded in
the dismantling of African and cooperating international drug
trafficking/distribution networks that operated throughout Europe
and involved more than 1,500 suspects.
These cases just top up other drugs seizures,
including heroin and amphetamines, reported mainly from harbors
and airports throughout Southern, East and West Africa. The announcement
notes that increased drug trafficking, related organized crime,
and its destabilizing impact on the young democratization, stability
and development process in Africa are still "neglected phenomena."
With Africa having turned into a transit
and re-distribution point for cocaine from Latin America and heroin
from Asia, the announcement explains, local consumption is also
rising. Several East and West African countries report growing
heroin abuse. Cocaine abuse is rising fast in South Africa and
also becoming a problem in several other African tourist and trade
regions, it adds. Injecting drug use is not yet a major cause
of HIV-AIDS in Africa, the continent hit worst by the epidemic.
However, initial research in major cities, like Nairobi or Lagos,
suggests that the link between drug abuse and HIV-AIDS is stronger
than hitherto believed. Growing drug abuse and injection could
become another contributor to HIV-AIDS in Africa.
African Governments have demonstrated their
commitment to intensified drug control action in the Political
Declaration and Drug Control Action Plan of the Organization for
African Unity (OAU) in Cameroon in 1996, and the following regional
action plans for West Africa by the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) and for Southern Africa by the Southern
African Development Community (SADC). Nevertheless, stronger action
is now required to halt the worsening drug problems, a strategy
of which this meeting is expected to provide.
UNDCP has been maintaining projects against
drug trafficking and abuse with several African governments for
the last twenty years. In response to the growing problems, the
number of UNDCP Field Offices in Africa has been increased to
a total of five, and the program portfolio for 2002-2003 rose
to almost $15 million. Together with African officials and experts,
UNDCP has also developed a proposed drug control strategy for
Africa which will be the subject of discussion and review during
the Ministerial Meeting in Cote d'Ivoire.
The United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP's)
new program for Africa addresses identified drug control priorities
in, mainly, the drug abuse demand reduction and law enforcement
sectors. For example, a more than one million dollar seaport control
project for East and Southern African ports has facilitated the
recent interdiction and seizure results in these countries. For
improved drug abuse demand reduction, UNDCP projects have stimulated
the involvement of NGOs and local communities in drug abuse prevention
and education programs in several countries. A major legal assistance
project for Southern and East African countries paves the way
for better prosecution of identified suspects and, in particular,
for functioning regional and international judicial cooperation.
Any new OAU drug control strategy or action
plan, the announcement cautions, will depend on improved international
and bilateral support to Africa.
"Cooperation with African authorities
against organized drug trafficking involving African networks
will improve interdiction results in consumer countries and assist
African countries in identifying major organizers operating from
the African continent," the announcement states. "The
sharing of experience and knowledge gained by Western experts,
in particular the NGOs and civil society, in their drug abuse
prevention and rehabilitation programs will enable African counterparts
to protect their youth -- that is more than 50 percent of the
almost 800 million Africans -- from growing abuse problems.
"Ultimately," the announcement
warns, "it remains a shared responsibility to enable African
partners to participate fully in global drug control efforts."
For further information, please contact:
UNDCP Vienna, Operations Branch/Africa, 0043-1-26060-5279 (Mr.
K. Kouame) 0043-1-26060-4237 (Ms. D. Thomas) INTERNATIONALES ZENTRUM
WIEN POSTFACH 500, A-1400 WIEN, ÖSTERREICH TEL.: 26060/4666/4677
FAX: 26060-5899 Email: UNIS@unvienna.org
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