The European Union supports the Government of Seychelles in the fight against drugs

Joint Press Release: Republic of Seychelles – European Union
Victoria – A team of experts from the EU Action against Drugs and Organised Crime (EU-ACT) undertakes a scoping mission to make an assessment of the drugs situation in Seychelles – the first of its kind to be undertaken in the country.
The Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Seychelles, Ms. Marjaana Sall said:
“The EU-ACT mission is fielded four months after the November 2018 Article 8 Political Dialogue between the European Union and Government of Seychelles, when the EU reiterated its commitment to support Seychelles in the fight against drugs. This is a concrete example of the longstanding and solid partnership between the EU and Seychelles”.
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Barry Faure said:
“We commend the efficiency with which this mission was mobilized following President Faure’s request for assistance in combatting drugs during the Article 8 Political Dialogue in November 2018. The range of expertise of the assessment team reflects the multidimensional nature of the drug problem and the need for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to work together to intensify our fight against drugs. It also shows the concern shared by Seychelles and the EU and the commitment to our continued partnership.
We thank all the institutions that met with the assessment team during the course of their mission for their cooperation and transparency to ensure a thorough and comprehensive assessment”.
The mission met with key institutions and agencies within Government but also with the civil society in order to have consultations with all relevant stakeholders, on both the drug demand and supply reduction. A report with recommendations to the Government of Seychelles will be shortly produced by the team of experts who took part in this mission, comprising of senior prosecutors, police officers and drug demand reduction specialists, coming from several EU member states.
The EU-ACT programme is financed by the European Union to the tune of 12 million EUROS, under the Stability and Peace Instrument in line with the EU Drugs Strategy (2013-2020). Its objective is to build capacities to increase regional and trans-regional law enforcement cooperation and coordination in the fight against organized crime and trafficking activities along the heroin route, as well as supporting the development of drugs policy and drug demand reduction activities.