Action plan against drugs to be unveiled

Mauritania is about to unveil its first anti-drug action plan which, donors hope, will stem the growing tide of substance abuse and trafficking in the country, sources told IRIN on Wednesday. The European Union, through its Projet Africaine Anti-Drogue(PAAD) operated out of Abidjan for all 16 ECOWAS countries, is funding the Mauritanian effort with over 20 million French francs (US $3,053) a PAAD official told IRIN. The official said the EU was helping Mauritania develop a coherent anti-drug policy. When it is ready, the national anti-drug committee would identify its priorities, which the EU would present to potential donors at a meeting in June, most likely in Brussels. An official of the UN International Drug Control Programme in Dakar, Senegal, told IRIN that Mauritania was a cannabis-growing country whose crop is being sold within West Africa and in Europe. Mauritania is also a transit point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe. “About two years ago officials discovered a very large drug corruption network among the police and magistrates,” the UN official said. In order to highlight the problem of drugs in West Africa, the EU began an African youth soccer tournament against drugs in 1999. The participants, 15 years and below, are drawn from poor neighbourhoods in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mauritania, Senegal and Togo. The finals will be held in Abidjan in May and will, the EU official said, attract ranking personalities such as ministers. By April, the EU expects to receive 10 national anti-drug plans to be presented for donor support, the official added.