Yesterday, I attended the High-Level Dissemination of the 2025 World Drug Report for Eastern Africa. And, really, it is a quiet relief when data begins to reflect what those working on the ground have long seen.
The patterns shared yesterday — shifting trafficking routes, the rise of synthetic substances, and the tightening link between drugs, crime and corruption — are familiar across our region. But what stood out most was the renewed focus on prevention. Not as messaging. Not as a campaign. But as a long-term commitment.
At Centre de Solidarité, we are directly involved in tertiary prevention through therapeutic community based treatment and reintegration. But prevention does not begin at treatment. It begins well before: in education, in health, in stable community relationships. It means sustained outreach, follow-up and presence. Not once-off sessions. Not visibility campaigns. Just consistency. It is the kind of work that is rarely visible. But when it holds, everything else does too.
Yesterday’s conversation also served as a clear reminder. The drug economy is never a standalone issue. It feeds on inequality, on instability, on governance gaps and it deepens them in return. No response can afford to stay isolated in health or enforcement. It must be cross-sectoral, regionally grounded and coherent.
There was something important about hearing that named directly and across sectors. Civil society often carries the weight of where systems fall short. But we also hold the threads of what keeps things working. That came through clearly yesterday, alongside the shared call to invest in what already holds.
There is work ahead. But the direction is clear. And the evidence speaks for itself.
