Originally drafted in May 2005 by a Group of African Experts, the Programme of Action is a strategic framework for technical cooperation over 5 years with the goal of reducing the negative impact of drugs and crime on Africa’s economic development and security. The Programme of Action incorporates six main components: (1) the promotion, ratification, and implementation of regional and international conventions against various forms of drug-related and transnational crimes; (2) the promotion of the rule of law and the reform of criminal justice systems; (3) the prevention and counter of all serious forms of conventional crime; (4) the prevention and counter of all serious forms of organized crime, money laundering, corruption, trafficking, and smuggling; (5) the prevention of drug abuse and related HIV/AIDS; and (6) the improvement of data collection, analysis, and dissemination, and the promotion of public awareness and the role of civil society as an over-arching theme. The report identifies the main objectives of each component, the proposed actions to reach those objectives, and possible key partners in the implementation of the action program. Following the background section that explains the need for and the development of the Programme of Action, the bulk of the report is presented in table format, outlining the key priorities, proposed actions, and examples of possible key partners for each of the six program components. The Programme of Action was developed in response to a range of mutually-reinforcing economic and social factors that have caught Africa in a “poverty trap,” resulting in conditions ripe for crime. Footnotes, tables, annex