The Pan-African Parliament, represented by Hon. Dahi Laila, Chairperson of the Youth Caucus, on behalf of the President of the Continental Legislature, is actively participating in the 5th Ordinary Session of The Specialized Technical Committee on Health, Nutrition, Population, and Drug Control (STC-HPNDC-5) in Addis Ababa. The theme of this session is "Cultivating Wellness in Africa: Holistic Approaches to Health, Nutrition, Population, Drug Control, Crime Prevention, and Education."
During the session, Hon. Laila presented the Resolution adopted by the Plenary of the Pan-African Parliament in July 2024, focusing on "The Scourge of Drug and Substance Abuse as a Barrier to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Education in Africa."
The Resolution mandates Pan-African Parliamentarians to ensure adequate allocation of national budgets for youth and community engagement in drug prevention programs. It also calls for the involvement of educational, traditional, and religious institutions in drug use prevention, treatment, and care initiatives.
Hon. Laila highlighted that drug and substance abuse hinders the creation of a conducive learning environment and impedes the development of human capital necessary for the continent's socio-economic progress. To address this challenge, the Pan-African Parliament’s Youth Caucus is taking proactive measures through legislative frameworks and policy advocacy. This initiative aligns with Moonshot 6 of Agenda 2063's Second 10-Year Implementation Plan (2024-2033), which focuses on holistic capacity development to empower Africa's youth population for productivity.
Overall, the Pan-African Parliament is committed to combating the growing drug epidemic through strategic interventions aimed at transforming Africa's youth into a driving force for sustainable development.
The overall objective of the STC-HNPDC-5 is to review progress made in the implementation of the AU and STC Decisions, provide policy guidance, and adopt reports, frameworks, and guidelines as well as recommendations that will be presented for consideration by the Executive Council of AU. More specifically, the meeting identifies and discusses key priority areas on health, nutrition, population, drug control and crime prevention that will improve the health and socio-economic well-being of Africa’s population. The STC-HNPDC-5 also considers key documents in the Health, Nutrition, Population and Drug Control and Crime Prevention sectors.
Held from 5 to 7 August, the STC-HNPDC-5 is bringing together Ministers in charge of Health, Nutrition Population and Drug Control, and Experts responsible for the sectors concerned, AU Organs such as the Pan-African Parliament, AU Development Agency – New Partnerships for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), Africa CDC, and the Regional Economic Communities.
The Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Health, Nutrition, Population and Drug Control, is one of the fourteen (14) STCs, established by the Decision of the Twelfth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (Assembly/AU/Dec.227 (XII)), held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1 to 3 February 2009.
