Research Associate - Africa Drug Policy

Start Date

August 2026

Contract Duration

2 Months

Occupancy

Part Time

This position is a consultancy role. Drug Policy Research Associates will receive a one-off stipend of EUR 500.

Deadline for Applications

6 August 2026 at 16:00 CET

Background

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) is an independent civil society organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a globally dispersed Secretariat working across 42 countries. Founded in 2013, GI-TOC brings together a global network of more than 750 independent experts and a team of over 130 staff dedicated to understanding and responding to organized crime. Through research, analysis, policy engagement and support to civil society actors, GI-TOC works to deepen understanding of organized crime and strengthen effective, rights-based responses. In 2024, GI-TOC produced 167 publications and reached more than 713,000 website users worldwide.

The GI-TOC works to:

• Identify, analyse and map criminal trends and patterns of regional instability, and their impact on illicit flows, governance, development, security, conflict and the rule of law.
• Connect and support civil society actors working on organized crime and corruption, and on their links to instability and conflict.
• Strengthen local monitoring and analysis of national, regional and international organized crime and insecurity trends.

Summary of Role

The Drug Policy Research Associate position is a selective one-month mentorship and applied research opportunity for exceptional early-career researchers and analysts working on drug policy to gain experience conducting policy-relevant field and desk research on drug policy dynamics in Africa.

Working directly with senior analysts and regional experts, the Associate will contribute to a regional mapping and analysis of drug policy and legislative instruments across East and Southern Africa, and West Africa. This will result in two published research papers (in which the contributions of the Associates will be acknowledged by name), and contribute to a broader workstream supporting developments in drug policy across Africa which mitigate harms to people who use drugs. This role provides practical experience in applied policy research and publication development, while offering structured guidance from leading practitioners in the field. It also offers the opportunity to be part of policy-relevant discussions focussing on how to support drug policy reform in Africa.

What the Associate will gain :

• Direct mentorship from senior GI-TOC researchers and practitioners who are leading practitioners in their field - select profiles below.
• Experience contributing to research with real-world policy implications.
• Opportunities to contribute to published outputs, with contributions publicly recognised.
• Experience working within an international research network.
• Professional development and networking opportunities across the GI-TOC community.

The Associate will :

• Support the broader research team in assessing existing policy and legislative instruments governing drug markets in East, Southern and West Africa;
• Conduct comparative legislative and policy analysis, in line with pre-defined methodologies;
• compile datasets, analysing trends and correlations, developing write-ups of findings;
• participate in and contributing to team meetings, methodological development discussions and, where feasible, interviews and external-facing meetings.

Requisite Skills and Experience

Experience should include :

• undergraduate degree in a relevant subject (international relations, conflict, security, economics or similar);
• ongoing or completed PhD in subject relevant to drug markets, or drug policy;
• demonstrated research experience working on drug policy issues;
• professional level English (C1 or higher);
• professional level French (C1 or higher) is desirable;
• proficiency using AI tools in research and analysis is desirable.
  

Profiles of Research Associate Mentors

Jason Eligh - Senior Expert

Jason is an illicit drug market and policy analyst who has researched, developed and led technical cooperation and assistance initiatives addressing illicit drugs in African and Asian geographies. His expertise focuses on understanding the contexts and characteristics influencing illicit drug use behaviours and the structural resilience of drug trade environments, particularly as these factors relate to the development and sustainability of harm.

John Collins - Director of Academic Engagement

John serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Illicit Economies and Development (JIED), LSE Press, and Board member of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSPD). John leads a major Open Society Foundations project examining the intersection of drug policy reform and organized crime. Previously, John was Founding Executive Director of the LSE’s International Drug Policy Unit (IDPU). John’s historical research focuses on the political economy of international drug control. In 2022 he published a book on the Regulatory History of UN Drug Control with Cambridge University Press.

Lucia Bird - Director of the Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa

Lucia provides strategic oversight for a complex research agenda focussing on the intersection of conflict and crime in West Africa. Lucia has published extensively on a range of organized crime types, including evolving cocaine and synthetic drug markets in West Africa. Lucia is a qualified lawyer, and has repeatedly published on the comparative analysis of legal frameworks regulating organized crime, including drug markets.

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