Subscribe

Follow our work by receiving our newsletter.

Find us on

Kofi Annan Foundation

News & Media

Changing Drug Policy
Home | News & Media | Changing Drug Policy | WEST AFRICA COMMISSION ON DRUGS TO VISIT MALI
,

WEST AFRICA COMMISSION ON DRUGS TO VISIT MALI

A delegation of the Commission on the Impact of Drug Trafficking on Governance, Security and Development in West Africa (WACD) is to visit Mali next week (26-28 August) for a series of consultations.

Accra – A delegation of the Commission on the Impact of Drug Trafficking on Governance, Security and Development in West Africa (WACD) is to visit Mali next week (26-28 August) for a series of consultations. Over the course of their visit to Mali, the delegation will meet with the authorities, international and regional organisations as well as civil society groups. The commissioners will hold a press briefing at midday (12:00) local time, on Thursday, 29 August, at the Azalaï Hôtel Salam.

The WACD delegation will be led by Mr. Edem Kodjo, a former Togolese Prime Minister and Secretary General of the Organisation for African Unity, the fore-runner of the AU. It will also include Dr Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou (Mauritania): former Foreign Minister, Associate Professor, Graduate Institute, University of Geneva and Programme leader, Geneva Centre for Security Studies.

Country visits like this one, the fourth this year, will contribute to the WACD’s better understanding of the impact of drug trafficking on the region, and help it formulate its recommendations with a view to releasing an authoritative report due out early next year.

Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, launched the WACD in Accra in January 2013 in a bid to tackle drug trafficking and consumption in West Africa and their impact on security, governance and public health. It is chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria.

Changing Drug Policy

Drug trafficking and consumption undermine institutions, threaten public health and damage development efforts. However, Kofi Annan believes “that drugs have destroyed many lives, but wrong government policies have destroyed many more”. He speaks out on drug policy reform globally as an advocate for a science- and health-centred approach.

Key posts in this category

H.E Mrs Ruth Dreifuss with the late Kofi Annan. Photo: Global Commission on Drug Policy.
What We Owe to Kofi Annan’s Legacy in Global Health by H.E. Ruth Dreifuss
Health and human rights-centered drug policies: the essential role of International Geneva
Lift the Ban! Kofi Annan on Why It’s Time To Legalize Drugs
West Africa has a drug problem
West Africa Commission on Drugs