Why Are African Leaders Calling for Drug Policy Reform? High-level Roundtable (AR)

February 9, 2022

The Policy Center for the New South, the Global Commission on Drug Policy and the West Africa Commission on Drugs are pleased to organize a high-level debate under the theme “Why Are African Leaders Calling for Drug Policy Reform” on Wednesday, February 9th 2022, starting 3:00 pm GMT+1. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the “war on drugs” by President Richard Nixon. Since then, law-enforcement responses are primarily used to counter the production, trafficking and consumption of illegal drugs. The international control regime based on the prohibition paradigm, and grounded in the three international drug conventions (1961, 1971 and 1988), consolidated national and regional fights against illegal drugs and supported the focus on drug elimination in national laws. In parallel, and while the regime focused on its main objective and countries implemented international agreements, the “unintended consequences” –as they are referred to by the UN since 2008– of this same regime became more dire, to the point of slowing other global development objectives. Public health efforts have been destabilised by current drug policies. For people who inject drugs’ (PWID), access to services has been impeded by the criminalisation of their behaviour. As a result, today, 17.8% of PWID live with HIV, 52.3% are infected with hepatitis C, and the prevalence of tuberculosis among this population is 9.1%. Another unintended consequence is that access to controlled essential medicines, including morphine for pain relief, is inadequate for 80% of the world’s population, affecting mainly low- and middle-income countries (the New South). Drawing on the poorest populations for its workforce, the illegal drugs market creates enormous profits to criminal organizations, with an estimated annual turnover between USD 426 and 652 billion. The high market value of this illegal market and its attractiveness to people with few economic opportunities then feeds mass incarceration, with one in five of the eleven million prisoners worldwide incarcerated for a drug offense. The result is a complex situation that undermines, in turn, the achievement of just and fair societies as part of sustainable development. Other issues include the inadequate collection of data directly related to the international drug control regime. In 2018, 269 million people were estimated to use drugs globally. Yet that figure represents only people who were arrested or sought treatment. It is therefore not currently possible to have disaggregated and effective data on problematic drug use. The use and conditions referred to as ‘problematic’ have the potential to undercut health, social integration, economic prosperity, and all other development indicators. Within that perspective, this event will serve as a platform for experts to discuss common approaches to drug policies, appreciate current policies’ interactions with the rule of law, health, and the fight against organized crime, and to discuss pathways to address contemporary and emerging challenges related to drugs. The objectives of this high-level debate are three-fold: - To discuss drug policy in the New South and in Africa, and attract attention to its cross-cutting economic, social, and cultural challenges; and to reenergize the debate on drug policy control as the policies on the ground are taking diverging directions; - To facilitate the exchange of experiences, lessons learned, and good practices between countries that have been reforming their policies in the last decade; - To provide a space where emerging solutions for the next decade are discussed and defined by experts and global leaders.

Speakers
Mohammed Loulichki
Senior Fellow
Mohammed Loulichki is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He brings over 40 years of comprehensive experience in diplomacy, conflict resolution, and human rights. He has served in various roles including as a member and Deputy Head of the Moroccan delegation to the 3rd Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982-1990), Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1991), and General Director for Multilateral Affairs in the same ministry (2003-2006).   He also acted as Morocco's Ambassador to Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia (1995-1999), and was the Moroccan Government's Ambassador Coordinator with MINURSO (1999-2001). Furthermore, he served ...
Mary Chinery-Hesse
Member, West Africa Commission on Drugs
Dr. Mary Chinery-Hesse, a retired International Civil Servant worked at the United Nations as Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, serving in several countries. She was the first African woman to be appointed to that position. She was then appointed as the first woman Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization, with the rank of Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. She also served as the Chief Advisor to the President of the Republic of Ghana. She currently serves on the Five-Member African Union Panel Of The Wise. She is a Commissioner of the West African Commission on Drugs (WACD). ...
Mohamed ElBaradei
Former Director General Emeritus of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Former Vice President of Egypt
Mr Mohamed ElBaradei was Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from December 1997 until November 2009. In October 2005, Mr. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way."  Mr. ElBaradei He was an IAEA staff member from 1984, holding a number of high-level policy positions, including that of Legal Adviser and subsequently Assistant Director General for External Relations. In 1980, he joined the United Nations and became a senior fellow in charge of the International Law Programme at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. From 1981 to 1987, ...
Kgalema Motlanthe
Former President of South Africa
Kgalema Motlanthe is a South African politician who served as deputy president of South Africa (2009–14). He previously served as president of the country (2008–09) and also served as deputy president of the country’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC; 2007–12). Motlanthe was politically active from an early age. He worked for the Johannesburg city council when he was in his early 20s, and it was there that he was recruited into Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the militant wing of the ANC. In 1976 he was jailed for 11 months for furthering the aims of the ANC, and he was found guilty of terrorism the following year. He was sentenced to a term of 10 years at Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela had been incarcerated since 1964. Upon his rel ...
Khalid Tinasti
Director of the Global Commission on Drug Policy; Fellow at the GSI at the University of Geneva
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Hynd Bouhia
    April 23, 2020
    Le Maroc est aujourd’hui cité comme exemple pour son agilité, son leadership, sous l’impulsion de Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI, et, surtout, sa cohérence dans la prise de décision et dans l’implication de la population, à travers le Fonds spécial Covid-19 et les médias pour maintenir la confiance publique. En effet, la sécurité des Marocains a été privilégiée par rapport à toute autre considération, ce qui a permis d’accélérer la prise en main dès évènements et encadrer la prise en ...
  • Authors
    Mohammed Hatimi
    April 22, 2020
    Particulièrement, tout autant qu’intentionnellement, avares en matière d’information sur la vie sociale et le quotidien des Musulmans pendant les catastrophes, naturelles et sanitaires, les sources arabes, dites classiques, le sont aussi au sujet des Juifs. Les Juifs, pourtant nombreux dans la cité, ne sont mentionnés que lorsqu’il s’agit de faits à l’origine d’incommodité ; la vie à l’intérieur des mellahs ne suscitait que très peu d’intérêt. Il fallait attendre le temps des ambass ...
  • Authors
    Pierre Jacquemot
    April 21, 2020
    Il est encore prématuré d’évaluer l’ampleur de la pandémie du Coronavirus en Afrique, mais tout laisse à penser qu’elle frappera de plein fouet des systèmes de santé – de la prévention à la prise en charge des malades - déjà vulnérables. Diverses résiliences sont à l’épreuve avec des effets péjoratifs, surtout à l’encontre des plus pauvres, moins armés pour respecter les mesures d’astreintes et plus fragiles dans leur quotidien. Des leçons peuvent toutefois être tirées des expérienc ...
  • Authors
    Aziz Ajbilou
    April 20, 2020
    La crise du Covid-19 ne cesse d’impacter les économies des pays du monde entier, aussi bien dans les pays développés que dans les pays en voie de développement. La situation serait plus délicate pour les pays pauvres. L’économie de ces pays est moins résiliente aux chocs et fortement tributaire des échanges commerciaux[1]. Les taux de chômage risquent de grimper et probablement pour une période assez longue. Les entreprises ayant pris des mesures pour arrêter totalement leurs activi ...
  • Authors
    الموقعون الذي ساهموا في تحرير النداء والموافقون عليه : كريم العيناوي و 49 موقع
    April 17, 2020
    وجه 50 مثقفا إفريقيا من بينهم كريم العيناوي، رئيس مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد، نداء حول فيروس كورونا المستجد (كوفيد 19)، تحت شعار “حتى نخرج جميعا أقوى من الجائحة”، من أجل تعبئة مختلف دول القارة السمراء لمواجهة تداعيات فيروس “كورونا”. كوفيد 19 هو الاسم العلمي للفيروس المتسبب في مرض تنفسي شديد العدوى وفتاك بإمكانه أن يؤدي إلى وفاة المصابين به.ويترتب عن هذا الفيروس، الذي اعتبرته منظمة الصحة العالمية وباءاً ثم جائحة انطلاقا من تاريخ 11 مارس 2020، آثار وخيمة. إذ تسبب في نشر الموت ...
  • Authors
    Abdessalam Jaldi
    April 15, 2020
    Moroccans, like the citizens of other democratic countries in times of peace, have learned to take for granted some fundamental rights, including the freedom of movement and assembly. In the attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19, it has suddenly become evident to them that the enjoyment of these rights can be limited. This paper enquires about the compatibility of the state of health emergency proclaimed by the government and approved by the parliament in March 23, 2020 with Mo ...
  • Authors
    Co-signed by
    and 50 African intellectuals
    April 13, 2020
    50 African intellectuals including Kako Nubukpo, Alioune Sall, Carlos Lopes, Cristina Duarte, Felwine Sarr, Achille Mbembe, Reckya Madougou, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Franck Hermann Ekra and Hakim Ben Hammouda co-signed this call to mobilize the intelligence, resources and creativity of Africans to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. Severe Acute Respiratory Ryndrome Coronavirus 2, (SARS-CoV-2), is the scientific name for the virus responsible for a highly contagious and potentially fata ...
  • Authors
    Co-signée par
    et 24 intellectuels africains
    April 13, 2020
    Vingt-cinq intellectuels africains dont Kako Nubukpo, Alioune Sall, Felwine Sarr, Achille Mbembe, Reckya Madougou, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Franck Hermann Ekra et Hakim Ben Hammouda cosignent cet appel à la mobilisation des intelligences, des ressources et de la créativité des Africains pour vaincre la pandémie de Covid-19. Covid-19 est le nom scientifique du virus responsable d’une maladie respiratoire très contagieuse pouvant devenir mortelle. Épidémie puis reclassée pandémie pa ...
  • Authors
    محمد ياسر الهلالي
    April 10, 2020
    يلف موضوع الحجر الصحي في المغرب الأقصى خلال العصر الوسيط ضباب كثيف، لا تساعد المصادر على انقشاعه. ومع ذلك يمكن القول إن من أهم القضايا التي كانت تشغل بال مغاربة العصور الوسطى أثناء حدوث الوباء، حقيقة العدوى من عدمها، فكانوا يطرحون السؤال الآتي: هل يخُالَطُ المصاب بالوباء أم لا؟ الموقف النظري من المخالطة بين الرفض والقبول تراوحت المواقف بين نفي العدوى بالوباء وإثباتها، وكان في مقدمة النافين لها أغلب الفقهاء، مستندين على نصوص شرعية تقول بعدم وجودها من وجهة نظر فهمهم لها، وتعتبر الوب ...
  • Authors
    Yonas Adeto
    Thomas Gomart
    Paolo Magri
    Greg Mills
    Karin Von Hippel
    Guntram Wolff
    April 9, 2020
    Il coronavirus promette di cambiare la politica globale. La velocità e la portata del contagio, così come la gravità del suo impatto, non sono fake news, come abbiamo già imparato a nostre spese. Il virus si diffonde rapidamente nel mondo, passando da persona a persona, e il contenimento delle sue conseguenze è indissolubilmente legato alla disponibilità di risorse e al buon funzionamento dei meccanismi di governance. Per queste ragioni, i leader globali dovrebbero porre molta atten ...