Roundtable to Discuss Drugs and (Dis)order Project in Afghanistan

On 5 November 2019, AREU organized a roundtable at the Serena Hotel in Kabul to highlight research updates on the Drugs and (Dis)order project in Afghanistan.

Drugs and (Dis)order is a four-year Global Challenges Research Fund project generating new evidence on how to transform illicit drug economies into peace economies in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar. 

Dr. Orzala Nemat, AREU Director, welcomed the guests and explained the purpose of the roundtable while Professor Jonathan Goodhand from the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), University of London, introduced the GCRF project, discussed stakeholders analysis in Afghanistan and led the discussions. Dr. Jasmine Bahthia from SOAS had a presentation on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 and the illicit economy. 

Participants included representatives of the Afghanistan government, national and international NGOs and CSOs. They discussed a wide range of topics including the current nature of coordination among various stakeholders, especially with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL).

The participants also discussed the traditional mechanisms such as criminalization and securitization to address the issue of drugs and were of the view that the issue should be looked at from a wider angle in order to give space to apply spatialized approach to political economy analysis.

Drugs & (dis)order: building sustainable peacetime economies in the aftermath of war’ is a four-year Global Challenges Research Fund project generating new evidence on how to transform illicit drug economies into peace economies in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar. It is an international consortium of internationally recognised organisations with unrivalled expertise in drugs, conflict, health and development.  Led by SOAS, University of London, project partners are: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), Alcis, Christian Aid, Kachinland Research Centre (KRC), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Organization for Sustainable Development and Research (OSDR), PositiveNegatives, Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), Universidad de los Andes, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia.