The Eastern and Southern Africa Commission on Drugs (ESACD) was formally launched in 2023 to address the serious and multifaceted challenges arising from the escalating illicit drug trade in the region. Countries in Eastern and Southern Africa face increasingly complex issues relating to the production, consumption, distribution and transnational trafficking of illicit drugs. To address these issues effectively, the ESACD has strongly advocated a shift towards more comprehensive and holistic policies, focusing on the root causes and consequences of drug use and dependence, while providing public health services and evidence-based treatment options for people who use drugs where needed. Alongside the health-based and humane responses, there is clear need for more effective law enforcement surveillance and strategies – based on a more strategic assessment of the crime and corruption threats that enable drug trafficking and the harms that come with it.

Throughout the course of a series of regional consultation meetings, a diversity of civil society and government representatives, as well as other informants, provided a significant volume of information on the current drug situation in the region. This information was provided to and reviewed by the Commission. Information was also gathered from several bilateral and multilateral briefings provided to the Commissioners by regional governments, experts, community-based project staff, researchers and activists, and community-based networks of people who use drugs and their clients. Based on this information, the Commission has developed an overview of the illicit drug environment in Eastern and Southern Africa, together with a set of findings, recommendations and actions relating to improving the regional response.