Ghana Hosts the First Joint UNODC/ECOWAS Regional Meeting on the Coordination Mechanisms of Demand Reduction Activities in West Africa and the Evaluation of the ECOWAS Plan of Action

2003/01
12 May 2003

Dakar, Senegal - The UNODC Regional Office for West and Central Africa (ROWCA) is organizing the First Joint UNODC/ECOWAS Regional Workshop from 26 to 29 May 2003, for the official launch of four regional demand reduction projects relating to drug abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention in West Africa. This will be followed by an evaluation workshop of programme activities implemented under the ECOWAS Drug Control Plan of Action.

This meeting is undertaken within the existing partnership between UNODC and the Drug Control Unit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The ECOWAS Drug Control Unit was set up by Member States in the region to coordinate functions and provide technical support and expertise to governments in drug control matters. In this context, the Drug Control Unit is responsible for providing support to governments' efforts to implement the appropriate legislation, to undertake current and proposed supply and demand reduction programmes, and to support the future direction of these efforts.

The four-day, high-level meeting will be officially opened at 10:00 a.m., Monday, 26 May, by the Hon. Owusu AGYEMANG, Minister for the Interior, at the M-Plaza Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

The meeting will bring together donors' representatives, coordinators of national drug control bodies, national project coordinators, NGO representatives and the ECOWAS Drug Control Unit. In order to enhance inter-agency collaboration within the UN system representatives from UNAIDS, UNFPA and UNIFEM will also participate.

The objective of the meeting is two-fold:

First, to strengthen the coordination mechanisms between the UNODC Regional Office, UNODC Country Office Nigeria, the national drug control coordination bodies and other national counterparts in view of the implementation of the newly launched projects.

Secondly, to undertake an in-depth review of programme activities implemented under the ECOWAS Drug Control Plan of Action at the national and regional levels.

Within the UN, UNODC is responsible for coordinating and providing effective leadership for drug control activities. A number of programmes and projects are under implementation by UNODC in West Africa, covering both drug control and crime prevention, in addition to research and data collection, coordination and advisory services. The UNODC Regional Office for West and Central Africa covers 23 countries using three different official languages: English, French and Portuguese.

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For additional information regarding the workshop, please contact:

Mickel Edwerd
UN Office on Drugs and Crime
Regional Office for West and Central Africa
Tel: +221 849 49 08
Fax: +221 849 13 86