SRSG DJINNIT ATTENDS THE HIGH-LEVEL REVIEW OF THE WORLD DRUG PROBLEM IN VIENNA

DAKAR, Senegal, March 14, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Special Representative o! f the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and Head of UNOWA, Mr. Said Djinnit, attended the High-Level Review of the world drug problem organized in Vienna as part of the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on 13-14 March.

In his address to the High-Level Review, Mr. Djinnit stressed that the prevention and fight against drug trafficking and abuse is an essential pillar to any conflict prevention and peace building strategy in West Africa.

“Given the international dimension of the scourge, the countries of West Africa should not be left alone to bear the full burden of the struggle against criminal organizations that are sometimes better equipped financially and logistically than the institutions mandated to fight them. I am here ref! erring to the principle of shared responsibility”, said the SRSG Djinnit.

SRSG Djinnit met also with the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Yury Fedotov, with whom he discussed the collaboration between UNOWA and UNODC in support of efforts to prevent and fight drug trafficking and organized crime in West Africa based on the implementation of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Action Plan to Address the Growing problem of Illicit Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Drug Abuse in West Africa.

The two official! s welcomed the ongoing review of the ECOWAS Action Plan. They undertook to further enhance the existing good cooperation between their two offices in supporting sub-regional efforts on drugs and crime issues, as illustrated by the progress being made in the West Africa Coast Initiative (WACI) through the operationalization of the Transnational Crime Units (TCUs) in some West African countries where they have been established.