Gaj Gurung works as Senior Analyst , Sustainable Financing at Harm Reduction International, where undertakes research and policy analysis for the Sustainable Financing Team. Gaj has PhD in Public Health from Chulalongkorn University, focusing on health financing. He is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Harm reduction funding is in perpetual crisis in many countries, yet governments and donors spend vast amounts on the war on drugs. Harm Reduction International research uncovered the use of donor government aid budgets, intended to support global health and poverty reduction goals, for punitive drug control in low- and middle-income countries. The findings expose international financial flows for punitive drug control in Latin America and contribute to the evidence base to decolonise drug policy and advance health- and human rights-based approaches in the region.

Aid spending data reported to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is accessible via the Creditor Reporting System (CRS). Financial data and information on the range of interventions and activities funded through the “narcotics control” sector code (16063) was analysed.

The study revealed that aid donors have spent almost a billion dollars on “narcotics control” in recipient countries between 2012-2021. Thirty-six percent of this was spent in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. 11 LAC countries were among the 20 top recipient countries for “narcotics control” aid, with Colombia receiving the highest amount, followed by Boliva, Peru, and Mexico. Activities supported include the scale up of airport controls in Bolivi​​a, enhancing passenger profiling at Colombian airport and undercover policing training in Peru.

Aid for the war on drugs in Latin America has undermined global development goals and “do no harm” principles. ​The devastating consequences of the war on drugs in the region include lives lost during counter-narcotics operations, livelihoods destroyed due to forced crop eradication and aerial spraying, extreme human rights violations and barriers to health care. Poor, marginalised, and racialised communities have been impacted most severely. Donors should support under-resourced, evidence-based, and health- and human rights-centred harm reduction efforts instead, through aid budgets and more broadly.