The Commission in Accra, Ghana, January 2013.

The Kofi Annan Foundation recently launched the Commission on the Impact of Drug Trafficking on Governance, Security, and Development in West Africa. The Commission is made up of several prominent figures including Institute visiting faculty member Dr Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, and Kofi Annan, a long-time patron and alumnus of the Graduate Institute. The Commission is headed by former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

“The massive surge in drug trafficking over the last decade presents a serious and growing threat to the region’s stability and development,” said Kofi Annan. “Left unchecked, illegal drug trafficking could compromise the encouraging progress that West African nations have made in strengthening democracy and promoting human and economic development.”

Dr Ould Mohamedou said, “I am honoured and delighted to be part of this Commission which, I believe, is particularly timely. The issues it is meant to tackle stand at the heart of the contemporary challenges to governance and state-building in West Africa. The multifaceted impact of increased drug trafficking in and around the region, and its connections notably to radicalism, must be addressed globally and this initiative can help significantly in that regard”.

The commission's objectives are to develop policy based recommendations for political and civil society leaders, mobilise public awareness and political commitment, and to promote local and regional capacities to deal with drug trafficking.

In addition to his role at the Graduate Institute, Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou is Head of the Regional Capacity Development Programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).

Kofi Annan will speak at an event entitled “Interventions: A Life of War and Peace" co-organised by the Institute and the University of Geneva with the support of the Kofi Annan Foundation on 26 March.