Maria-Goretti Ane is the African Consultant for International Drug Policy Consortium and serves as the focal point for IDPC in Africa, and a Legal Practitioner in Ghana. She has special interests in human rights and drug policy reforms and has been involved in high level engagements and advocacy on drug use and the law both locally and internationally. She is also an author of a number of articles on drug use and harm reduction.

Dr Cassian L. Nyandindi is a consultant addiction psychiatrist, Researcher and Honorary lecturer as well as a certified global drug addiction trainer with ICAP III through Colombo Plan under Universal Training Curriculum (UTC). Currently, he is working with Tanzania Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) as the Assistant Commissioner for Prevention, Treatment, Rehabilitation and Research in Tanzania. He was born on 25 May 1978. He is an expert in the field of drug addiction and an African guru in establishment and maintenance of methadone program for people with opioid use disorders. He worked with Ministry of Health, Drug Control and Enforcement Authority and National AIDS Control Program in the field of Drug Addiction, HIV, HBV and HCV as well as TB infection. He has conducted a number of researches and consultancies in the region for drug addiction training and awareness raising campaigns on how to address and tackle the drug problem.

Shaun Shelly brings clinical, academic, programmatic, research and lived experience together into a 360 degree-view of the complex issues that inform our understanding and response to the use of drugs. Shaun founded the SA Drug Policy Week at TBHIV Care, holds an appointment at the University of Pretoria, Department of Family Medicine, and sits on several advisory boards, locally and internationally.

Hon. Ms. Hendrietta Ipeleng Bogopane-Zulu is the Deputy Minister of Social Development of South Africa. Hendrietta is visually impaired (blind), married with three girls, two of whom are visually impaired. She is a disability rights, gender, children, youth and HIV & AIDS activist. She is also a policy analyst and developer, a trainer, researcher on disability, development and HIV and AIDS and a writer on disability with a number of publications under her name. She is the only disabled Cabinet Member of the South African Government. In January 1996 she was employed by the Disabled People South Africa (DPSA) as the national co-ordinator for Disabled Women’s Development Programme. She has served as a Member of Parliament for four terms. In that period, she was appointed as a Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Youth, Children and People with Disabilities, Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Deputy Minister for Public Works, Deputy Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities and Deputy Minister of Social Development. In May 2019 she was reappointed as the Deputy Minister of Social Development. She championed various ground breaking initiatives and activities which include, but not limited to being the Chairperson of the Inter - Parliamentary Union (IPU) Advisory Group on HIV and AIDS, UNAIDS review Committee, the Co-Chair the UN Agenda for Women and Girls on HIV and AIDS and the Chair of the AU Specialised Technical Committee on Health, Population and Drug Control.