Abuja, 8^th December 2017. The 2018 Work Plan of the implementation team of the Project Steering and Coordination Committee (PSCC) of the ECOWAS-European Union (EU) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was approved on the 7^th of December 2017, in Abuja, Nigeria.

The PSCC’s approval of the Work Plan of the Support to ECOWAS Regional Action Plan on Illicit Drug Trafficking, related Organized Crime and Drug Abuse in West Africa project will help to accomplish tangible and sustainable results in relation to its Law Enforcement, Legal and Forensic activities.

Before the approval of the Work Plan, members of the ECOWAS, EU and UNODC joint PSCC, examined the 2017 ECOWAS and UNODC activity reports on drugs and related crimes and expressed delight at the momentum gained with the implementation of the project during the year in review.

In a statement at the opening, the ECOWAS Commission’s Director, Gender, Youth, Sports, CSO, Employment and Drug Control Dr. Sintiki Tarfa Ugbe revealed that key results have been evident in the Drug Demand Reduction Component Area as a result of the launching of national networks as well as the presence of a valid data collection and reporting tool in the ECOWAS system.

The EU Head of Section for Regional Cooperation, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs. Stefania Marrone in her opening remarks expressed the EU’s satisfaction at “the current strides and the interest shown towards the fight against Illicit Drug Trafficking and other organized crimes”, saying it is “a testament of ECOWAS’ commitment to evolve in its role as the primary coordinating institution within the sub-region”.

Mrs. Marrone added that the “EU will continue to maintain its support to the Commission and its institutions to ensure a more peaceful, developed West African sub-region as a whole”.

The UNODC Deputy Representative to the Regional Office in Senegal (ROSEN), Ms. Chantal Lacroix, reiterated the UNODC’s commitment to support the development of a new Political Declaration that would be further tailored towards existing strategies and “emerging threats and trends in transnational organized crime, illicit drug trafficking, terrorism, corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as HIV/AIDS and drug abuse”.

As a planning, budgeting and monitoring tool for the effective management of the ECOWAS – EU – UNODC collaboration, the PSCC meets two times in a year in line with the ECOWAS-EU Financing Agreement and as part of its objectives to provide oversight functions, approval of annual work plan and the validation of project results for previous years. It also assesses progress of work and proffers constructive suggestions to the project.