drugwarsinafricanarcoticslhhsmunindia09

Topic: Drug Wars in Africa Name: Aditi Sharma Subject: Narcotics Period: 0

Country Profile: (20 points, minus one point for each sub-point missing) A. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 1. Republic of India 2. changes from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north 3. map a. 20 00 N, 77 00 E; located in Southern Asia, bordering Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Burma, and also borders the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal b. upland plain, flat and rolling plain along the Ganges river, and the Himalayas in the north c. 3, 287,590 sq km B. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY 4. Federal republic, President Prathiba Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 5. New Delhi 6. ADB, ARF, ASEAN, BIMSTEC, BIS, C, CP, EAS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM,IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, PCA, PIF, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNCHR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO 7. Male: 11,592,111 Female: 10, 636, 857 C. CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 8. Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujurati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Indo- Aryan, Dravidian, Mongoloid, and others; Hinduism, Muslim, Christian, Sikh 9. 1,147,995,904 people; 1.578%; 1.06 male (s)/female 10. New Delhi, Chandigarh, Shimla, Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Poona 11. 32.31 deaths/1000 live births; 69.25 years 12. 3.2% D. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY 13. $1.099 trillion total; $2,600 per capita 14. 48.83% 15. Coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land 16. Rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water, buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish-textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software 17. Exports: petroleum products, textile, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, leather manufactures; Import: crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals 18. Indian Rupee (INR) is the official national currency; 49.16 INR to one USD 19. Export: $151.3 billion; Import: $230.5 billion

= BACKGROUND: = The Drug Wars in Africa are as the name says, but this was is not only between the drug lords and the police, but also between themselves. Africa used to be a peaceful continent, until the drug dealers decided to use it as a mean of transporting drugs across the world, especially to Europe. This trade began about three years ago, when drug dealers from South America decided to use the western part of Africa as a drug port. Since the countries that make up West Africa are not very wealthy, they are major targets and can be used as protectors for a very low price, which makes it much easier the drug dealers to set up port in the neighborhoods of these people, and sell and ship their products with more ease. Since many of the people that buy cocaine from the South American drug dealers are European, their ports tend to be near the European border, in cities such as Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. This trafficking of drugs makes it very easy for people to get to these drugs, increasing the rate of drug intake. At this time though, there aren’t many problems that are currently going on, but the sale and purchase of drugs has risen to heights that have never been seen before. The drug dealers are still taking advantage of the indigent people of West Africa, because they are still desperate for money in order to feed their family and get other essentials that their families need. There have been major and painful events that have been caused by these drug wars. For example, there were some FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, guerillas from Colombia that were arrested while they were on a drug trafficking mission, and then they were released. This mysterious release caused a lot of problems because it showed the unfaithfulness of the Guinea-Bissau police, and their eagerness to take bribes. **  UN INVOLVEMENT:   **

The UN is very eager to stop this abuse of drugs and the continent of Africa. They have created an Ad Hoc Committee, which, on June 8, 1998, passed documents that outlined a declaration that has guidelines that demand the use of drugs to be reduced, and for there to be harsher measures taken in order to stop the drug problem in Africa, and other places in the world. This declaration is just the beginning of the reduction of drug trafficking not just in Africa, but in other parts of the world as well. Another way that the UN is trying to stop the drug abuse in Africa is by passing yearly reports, such as the “Summary of the report of the International Narcotic Drug Control Board for 1996”, which was officially released on May 5th, 1997. This report explains the connection, as well, between drug abuse and the justice system. If there were tougher laws in Africa for drug dealers, there would be a much lower rate of trade, which would in turn decrease the wars that are caused by these drug lords. This issue is very important, and cannot be forgotten about.

Country Policy/Possible Solutions:
India is completely against the drug wars that are occurring in Africa. We have always been against the use of drugs, and it is a horrible act. We are open for any solutions that the UN or any other organization presents, as long as we feel that the actions taken in them are appropriate and will, if not immediately, eventually help to decrease the amount of drug trade in Africa. We understand the fact that many innocent civilians are also being killed or injured in these drug wars, even though they have nothing to do with the dispute. India would also like to suggest the creation of a committee called E.N.D, Eliminate Narcotic Disputes. This committee would enhance the number of officers that are currently located in Africa, and also supply aid to those that have been affected by the wars. This committee would also appoint guards near the borders of African countries, and they would check all the incoming and outgoing people to see if they were carrying any drugs with them. We would also like to increase the fine for the possession of drugs, taking the quantity into account. India hopes that this dilemma will soon be resolved, with peaceful alliances.