Tough trade-offs: integrating drugs, development and peacebuilding

In light of the widely acknowledged shortcomings and social costs of the War on drugs, there’s a growing call for drugs, development and peacebuilding policies to be better integrated – to prioritise pro-poor development and align drug policy with the Sustainable Development Goals. But much work remains to be done. And the relationship between counter-narcotics, pro-poor development and peacebuilding is neither straightforward, nor necessarily complementary.

This event brings together actors from the drugs, development and peacebuilding fields to explore the tensions and trade-offs that exist between these different policy fields and the uneven distribution of costs and benefits of interventions.

• How can we rethink the relationship between drugs, development and violence in war-to-peace transitions?
• What are the big trade-offs that need to be tackled?
• How can we better incorporate the voices and perspectives of those involved in illicit economies into policy debates?

This event will also launch the flagship publication of the Drugs & (dis)order research project ‘Voices from the borderlands 2020’, bringing to light experiences and perspectives of people involved in illicit drug economies in seven borderland communities in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar.

Speakers:

• Orzala Nemat, Director, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (Moderator)
• Ann Fordham, Executive Director, International Drug Policy Consortium
• David Keen, Professor of Conflict Studies, London School of Economics
• Estefanía Ciro Rodríguez, Professor, Universidad de los Andes

Presenting voices from the borderlands:

• Camilo Acero Vargas, Researcher, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Jasmine Bhatia, Research Fellow, SOAS
• Dan Seng Lawn, Director, Kachinland Research Centre