Obasanjo and Annan met with President Mahama on West Africa drug challenges

Accra, Ghana – Olusegun Obasanjo, chairman of the West Africa Commission on Drugs and Kofi Annan, chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation met with John Dramani Mahama, chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and President of Ghana today to discuss regional responses to the growing drugs threat in West Africa.
In June, the West Africa Commission on Drugs concluded that drug trafficking, consumption and production in West Africa undermines institutions, threatens public health and damages development efforts. It called on West African governments to reform drug laws and policies and decriminalize low-level and non-violent drug offences.

“ECOWAS is uniquely placed to urge West African governments to collaborate and make common cause against the threat posed by drugs”, Chairman Obasanjo said. “Only a concerted regional response has a realistic chance of curbing the pernicious effects of this well-organized trade”.

“We must look pragmatically at what works and what does not when it comes to dealing with drugs”, Kofi Annan said.

“The report which chairman Obasanjo of the West Africa Commission on Drugs will today present to President Mahama, makes a frank assessment of the situation and puts forward concrete policy recommendations which I hope will be heeded across the region and beyond”.

 

 

Chaired by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) was created in January 2013 to make face to the ever-growing threats posed by drugs in West Africa.

The Kofi Annan foundation, in consultation with international and regional partners, national governments and civil Society organizations convened the Commission, which in June 2014, presented its landmark report entitled “Not Just in Transit: Drugs, Society and the State in West Africa”.

Click here to read the landmark report and view the short animation: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/report/

Chaired by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) was created in January 2013 to make face to the ever-growing threats posed by drugs in West Africa.

Kofi Annan, in consultation with international and regional partners, national governments and civil Society organizations convened the Commission, which in June 2014, presented its landmark report entitled “Not Just in Transit: Drugs, Society and the State in West Africa”.