The Economic Community of West African States has collaborated with civil society organizations to curb drug and substance abuse in six West African countries.They include Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Liberia, Mauritania, Sierra Leone and Togo. Speaking during a training workshop on drug prevention and treatment for the CSOs on Friday in Abuja, the Principal Programme Officer, Law Enforcement (Drugs), Daniel Amankwaah, identified illicit drug trafficking, drug abuse and organised crimes as disturbing obstructions to the achievement of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals. “The good news is that with effective cooperation between United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, the ECOWAS Commission, its member states and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and of course, the support of the European Union, we can successfully act against the drug menace, ” said Amankwaah, who represented the Director, Gender,Youth, CSO and Drug Control, ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Sintiki Ugbe. The Programme Coordinator, UNODC Regional Office for West and Central Africa, Cheikh Toure, noted that the workshop was meant to build capacity of CSOs to identify and disseminate best practices to prevent substance use, particularly among vulnerable populations, such as children, adolescents and young adults. He identified West Africa as the transit hub for illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines bound for Europe and other regions, stressing that communities are suffering from the psychosocial, economic and health consequences of drug abuse.
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