UNGASS 10-year Review - TNI

Starting in March 2008 the international community will evaluate the implementation of the political declaration and action plans of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs in 1998. A year long ‘period of global reflection’ will lead up to a Ministerial Segment at the CND in March 2009. What are the procedural aspects that still require clarification? What space will there be for civil society to participate in the different stages of the process? What will be the key issues on the table? What kind of improvements in the functioning of the UN drug control system could be expected or aimed at? Is a reform of the UN Drug Conventions needed? This site will guide you through the process and provide critical background.

Latest articles

UNODC rewrites history to hide failure

In the new 2008 World Drug Report the UNODC is trying to hide failures behind a bad history lesson. Instead of a clear acknowledgement that the 10-year UNGASS targets have not been met – on the contrary, global production of cocaine and heroin has increased – the WDR decided to go back 100 years into history claiming success in comparison with Chinese opium production and use in the early 20^th century. Twisted logic is used to fabricate comparisons with higher production last century.

Read the press release
See also: Rewriting history. A response to the 2008 World Drug Report, TNI Drug Policy Briefing nr. 26, June 2008

The current state of drug policy debate

Martin Jelsma, from the Transnational Institute, prepared an analysis for the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, explaining the drug policy situation in the European Union and the current state of debate in the United Nations agenda. The commission is an initiative born of former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso, from Brazil, César Gaviria, from Colombia and Ernesto Zedillo, from Mexico, to respond to concerns related to the problems of drug consumption and traffic in Latin America. The idea to constitute a commission capable of consolidating a debate concerning this problematic also responds to the necessity of reviewing the world drug policies in the scope of the United Nations, which began in March 2008 and will terminate during the meeting in Vienna, Austria, in March 2009. The Commission counts on the support of the Center Edelstein, Fernando Henrique Cardoso Institute (IFHC), the Open Society Institute (OSI), the Democratic Platform and Viva Rio.