Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)

First fellows announced in CPF Program

The CICAD Executive Secretariat has announced the first two fellows honored in its CICAD Policy Fellowship (CPF) Program, one professional from Chile and the other from The Bahamas. These fellows will start their six-month residence in Washington, DC, in June.

Alberto Rene Amiot Rodriguez is a lawyer and judge in Santiago, Chile. He holds a law degree from the Universidad Bolivariana and a masters in criminal law from the Universidad de Chile. He will join the CICAD team working on the Drug Treatment Courts (DTC) Project in the Institutional Development Section. Drawing on his experience as the lead judge in Chile's implementation of the DTC model, he proposes to explore the lessons that might be applied elsewhere in the Americas.


Wendy M. Fernander is a clinical psychologist working in the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre in New Providence, The Bahamas. She holds a BA from the College of Saint Benedict and a masters from Capella University, both in clinical psychology. She will form part of the Demand Reduction Section and focus on the dual diagnosis of clients, that is, drug dependent clients who have one or more mental disorders that need to be treated in parallel with their substance abuse.


CICAD Executive Secretary Paul Simons first announced the CPF Program in Buenos Aires in November 2011 to mark the 25th anniversary of CICAD's creation The program had two objectives: help drug control agencies in member states better understand the role of the CICAD Executive Secretariat, and offer opportunities to civil servants working on drug issues to broaden and strengthen their experience in research, development, analysis and implementation of drug control policies in the Americas. The search for candidates was launched in March. Despite the short time frame, CICAD received eight applications.

Judge Amiot and Ms. Fernander will focus on policy analysis and/or program development. In addition to specific projects, fellows will devote a portion of their time to supporting broader activities of CICAD, including providing support for expert groups of the Commission.

The next open season round will this fall when the Commission will ask national drug commissions of member states to nominate up to two candidates for the second class of CPF Fellows.

Original announcement of the CPF Program


updated on 5/18/2012 9:50:17 AM