Story by Abigirl Tembo
ZIMBABWE continues to strengthen its international partnerships in tackling emerging national challenges, among them drug and substance abuse.
This comes as the National Committee on Drug and Substance Abuse chaired by Defence Minister, Honourable Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, met with the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Dr Jassim Al Qasimi, at Defence House this Wednesday, to explore areas of collaboration in combating the growing scourge.
“We had the honour of hosting the UAE Ambassador at our offices as a multi-sectoral committee addressing the issue of drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe. The meeting is a follow-up to the engagement we had in 2023, when a delegation from the UAE visited Zimbabwe and met with the President, ministers, and senior government officials,” Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said.
“In today’s meeting, we agreed that the Ambassador will communicate our request for collaboration in the area of drug and substance abuse to his government. We proposed cooperation in several areas, including training, testing, and treatment, as well as in other key pillars such as demand reduction, supply reduction, harm reduction, psychosocial support, and legislative reform. We are particularly interested in learning from the laws and policies they have implemented to deter offenders and eradicate this menace in our country.”
“President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared zero tolerance to drug and substance abuse, and as a committee, we continue to seek interventions and collaborations with other nations, particularly where government-to-government Memoranda of Understanding already exist.”
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri added that Zimbabwe stands to benefit from the UAE’s experience in establishing specialised agencies to tackle drug-related challenges.
Partnerships with countries that already have established agencies, like the UAE, will, according to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Honourable Kazembe Kazembe, help accelerate progress in prevention, rehabilitation and enforcement.
“Many other countries have been affected by the problem of drug and substance abuse, and we are aware that the UAE is among them. However, they have managed to deal with it effectively and we believe that through collaboration with them, we can learn valuable lessons,” Minister Kazembe said.
“There is much we can learn from their experience, meaning we do not need to reinvent the wheel, but we can build on proven strategies. That said, Zimbabwe has also made significant progress in fighting drug and substance abuse. We have a Bill, which will lead to the establishment of the Drug and Substance Risk Control Agency, which has already been gazetted and is now before Parliament. To ensure that our efforts are effective, we must continue learning from other countries that have faced and overcome similar challenges.”
Ambassador Al Qasimi, commended Zimbabwe for its commitment to addressing drug and substance abuse and expressed confidence that the two nations will build on their long-standing cooperation across various sectors.
While strengthening ties with the UAE on social challenges, Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri also received a courtesy call from the Algerian Ambassador, His Excellency Mohamed Seoudi, to discuss broader cooperation in defence, industrial development and research.
“We are excited to see that she is going to Algeria next week to see the opportunities of cooperation in the military field as well as in the industrial field, in research, languages, mining and construction,” Ambassador Seoudi said.
Minister Muchinguri said her visit to Algeria next week will cement defence and security cooperation while also exploring collaboration in disaster management, climate response, and the fight against drug and substance abuse.
“We have had disasters in Zimbabwe and the defence forces are the first ones to arrive whenever there is a disaster. We can take some experience and ideas from Algeria, which is a leading country in terms of disaster preparedness,” she said.
In line with Zimbabwe’s foreign policy of engagement and re-engagement, the partnerships with the United Arab Emirates and Algeria reflect the government’s commitment to working with the international community in addressing shared challenges.
