4th International Forum on the Coca Leaf - La Paz, Bolivia

The 4th International Forum on the Coca Leaf, organised by the Research Centre on Drugs and Human Rights (CIDDH), the Peruvian Association on Coca Leave (APEHCOCA) and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, was celebrated in La Paz, Bolivia.

The forum was celebrated in a context of change on regional drug policies, the possible uses of the coca leaf and new approaches on alternative policies. This Forum gathered 18 researchers and social stakeholders from across Europe, North America and Latin America, to discuss the current role of the coca leaf, its production/industrialisation, future markets and modern uses beyond Bolivia.

This event was considered as a major success, not only by the organisers but also by the media that covered the event. CIDDH has monitored the impact of the event and has collected around 30 national and international media features and articles.

Attendance to the forum was also impressive. We welcomed around 180 people each day, including the official participation of Ministers, government representatives, local academics and coca leaders from Bolivia and the Andean region. Carlos Romero, Minister from the Bolivian government, opened and closed the event and participated actively throughout the event.

Academics, researchers, political leaders and government representatives that attended the event shared discoveries and reached important conclusions (Click here to read the conclusions). They emphasized the need to recover the usage of the coca leaf, both for cultural purposes and for wider use in order to benefit from its nutritional and therapeutic values and from its effects in modern medicine.

In addition, the panellists suggested that it was necessary to depict coca issues based on a more inclusive and extensive human rights approach, by remembering its cultural and ancestral claims, as well as its economic and commercial benefits. Considering this, the debates on the conclusions focused on regional identity and integration, health and the nutritional value of the coca leaf, the legal status of the coca leaf for exportation and the concrete experiences on business entrepreneurship to industrialise this product.

Opening speeches at the forum

Media coverage on the forum

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