On 9 and 10 March, the Ivorian economic capital, Abidjan, hosted the first multi-stakeholder meeting on crime prevention and control strategies, organised by UNODC. Magistrates and senior police officers from 12 West and Central African countries participated in the meeting, along with the Brazzaville Foundation.
The agenda included an exchange of information on the development of strategies to fight organised crime, accompanied by international experts, mainly from UNODC, Interpol, Afripol, ECOWAS and GiZ (German development agency).
On the first day, the participants took stock of existing and emerging threats in West and Central Africa, generated by several types of trafficking: gold, drugs, fuel, arms, migrants, human beings and medicines. The aim was to understand how to share the information processed by national and international intelligence services, and to pool resources by strengthening regional cooperation. The participants appreciated the participatory and consultative format of the meeting which contributed to these objectives.
On the second day, the Brazzaville Foundation intervened on the theme of "strengthening partnerships between states, the private sector and civil society against falsified medical products". Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive, presented the systemic and coordinated methodology of national plans against falsified and substandard medicines that will be implemented as part of the Lomé Initiative during the 2022-2024 work programme. On the same theme, Mr Franck Chauty, Deputy Director of the Africa Safety Division of Sanofi, presented the perspective of the private sector.
The afternoon was devoted to practical exercises allowing participants to interact and formulate recommendations, based on a strategic reference framework co-funded by the UK government.
While legal bodies and instruments exist at national and international levels, it seems that the main focus is on securing the means to enforce the rule of law and improve security rather than creating new bodies and instruments.
