Between December 10th and 13th, the African Union held a consultation meeting with their Member States in Arusha, Tanzania. The Consultations were open for Civil Society Organisations to attend. The first day started with presentations by the United Nations Office on Drugs, focusing on International Standards on Prevention. Representatives from the Unites States from Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) shared their experiences on Marijuana legalisation in the States and its adverse impacts caused to both the people (especially youths) and the economy. Their presentations were followed by different Government’s reports on School Interventions.

On the second day, our East African Liaison, Paul Mburu, was invited to speak on behalf of WFAD on the topic of “Prevention in the context of Rural and Peru Urban areas”. He highlighted interventions conducted by WFAD in East African rural and peri urban settings. He higlighted the projects “Sober Life – Healthier Communities”, implemented in the DRC, and “Connecting the Parrallels between Prevention and Treatment”, implemented in Kenya. These projects both involved transforming impacts to the [rural] communities. He also shared the importance of evidence-based prevention interventions. The presentation was highly commended for transforming passive theories into practical actions which should be the aim of Govenrments, the AU, and the UN as a whole.

Written by Paul Mburu