Stories from UNODC - Eastern Africa

World Drug Report 2017: 29.5 million people globally suffer from drug use disorders, opioids the most harmful

Nairobi, Kenya- 23 June 2017 - UNODC today launched the World Drug Report 2017 during an event held in Nairobi at the United Nations Office in  Nairobi (UNON) Complex following successful launches the previous day in Vienna, New York and Geneva. The event was attended by members of the diplomatic community in Nairobi as well as UNODC and other UN staff. The launch event, chaired by Alan Cole, Officer in Charge UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa (ROEA), included comments by Mr. Gideon Kimilu, Head of INTERPOL Regional Bureau Nairobi, and Prof. John Muteti, Director, Research & Policy Development from the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA), who presented their respective organizations' views on the importance of effective drug supply and demand interventions. The World Drug Report was subsequently presented by Johan Kruger, Head of Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes, ROEA, and Hussein Manji, Health and Social Development Specialist, ROEA.

Key findings of 20 th World Drug Report included the startling fact that in 2015, about a quarter of a billion people used drugs. Of these, around 29.5 million people - or 0.6 per cent of the global adult population - were engaged in problematic use and suffered from drug use disorders, including dependence. Opioids were the most harmful drug type and accounted for 70 per cent of the negative health impact associated with drug use disorders worldwide, according to the latest World Drug Report, released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Read More

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Regional Workshop to Fast-track the Implementation of  the Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)

NAIROBI, 13 to 17 February 2017 - Members of the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA), senior policy makers from the Eastern Africa region, development partners and Civil Society Organizations met in Nairobi for a five day workshop to foster partnerships, and fast track the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

The regional workshop hosted by UNODC, and supported by the Foreign Commonwealth Office (United Kingdom), was held from 13 to 17 February 2017 at the Sarova Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, and drew delegates from; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan.

Mr. Tim Steele, UNODC's Global Anti-Corruption Advisor emphasized that the objective of the workshop was to deliver an actionable outcome document which EAAACA member states could adopt in fast-tracking the implementation of UNCAC. Mrs. Charity Kagwi-Ndung'u, the Head of the Criminal Justice Programme at UNODC's Regional Office in Eastern Africa (ROEA), highlighted the intersections between corruption and the chronic problems of lack of development, bad governance and conflict, which she stated necessitated a regional multi-stakeholder strategy to effectively combat. Read More

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Joining Forces to Restore the Lives of Vulnerable Children

12 January 2017 - The lives of some 100 vulnerable children in Ethiopia took a turn in 2016 that they could not have imagined only a year ago. They went from lives of destitution and fear, sleeping and toiling on the streets - or engaging in petty crime- to that of finding shelter, a safe place to learn and above all, hope in the future.

The partnership of UNODC with Salesians of Don Bosco - VIS , which kicked off in December 2015 with the aim of Rehabilitating and reintegrating children at risk and in conflict with the law, made this change happen: It gave a second chance to both boys released from detention and destitute street kids at risk of engaging in criminal activities and in conflict with the law. Read More

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