57th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs & High-level segment

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs will take place from Monday 17 to Friday 21 March 2014. This year, it will be preceded by a High Level Segment, from 13 to 14 March 2014. The purpose of this meeting is to review the progress made, and the challenges encountered, since the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on the World Drug Problem. The main focus of the High Level Segment will be the negotiation of a ‘Joint Ministerial Statement’, which will set the scene for the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS), as well as recording member states’ views of progress. For more information, please click here.

Side events organised/co-organised by IDPC

Monday 17th March:

9:00 - 9:50 - Sentencing policies for drug offences: Best practices in the UK, organised by the Academic Council on the UN System, the Vienna Liaison Office and IDPC - Conference Room M2
13:10 - 14:00 - A tool for debate: The OAS report on drug policy, organised by Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, IDPC - Conference Room M2

Tuesday 18th March:

13:10 - 14:00 - Monitoring and evaluation of the Uruguayan cannabis legislative and regulation process, organised by Uruguay, TNI, IDPC, WOLA - Conference Room M2 (Flyer available in English and Spanish)

Wednesday 19th March:

9:00 - 9:50 - Health: the cornerstone of future drug policy (with a focus on access to essential medicines), organised by Lithuania, IDHDP, IAHPC and IDPC - Conference Room M3
9:00 - 9:50 - Current drug policies: Evaluating indicators, examining future options, organised by Finland, IDPC, the Global Drug Policy Observatory, LSE Ideas, ICSDP - Conference Room M6
13:10 - 14:00 - Modernising drug law enforcement, organised by Switzerland, IDPC, IISS and Chatham House - Conference Room M3
14:20 - 15:10 - Drug trafficking and consumption in West Africa, organised by Cape Verde and co-sponsored by the African Union, the West Africa Commission on Drugs, Benin and IDPC - Conference Room M3

The full list of official side events is available here. IDPC has produced a flyer of side events of interest available below.

On Sunday 16th March (9:45 to 12:30), Transform will also organise a workshop on how to constructively engage with - and win - the debate on drug regulation. If you wish to attend, please email steve@tdpf.org.uk.

Media

IDPChas prepared a short FAQ for the media aims to epxlain what the CND and High Level Segment are, and why they are important:

A Press Conference with UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov will take place on Friday 14th March at 17:00 in the MOE Press Room, M-Building, Vienna International Centre.

Practical information on the CND

IDPC Guide on how NGOs can engage in advocacy work at and around the CND

The Guide is available below in English and Russian. Many thanks to the AIDS Foundation East West for translating the document into Russian.

VNGOC Guide for NGOs wishing to attend the CND

General logistical and practical information

The High-Level Segment

For more information on the High-Level Segment, please visit the IDPC webpage, and the official UNODC microsite. The event will be streamed live on the UNODC microsite.

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs

The subsequent week will be the normal CND session. As usual, the CND will include a thematic debate at the Plenary, as well as two panel discussions, one of which on the scheduling of substances and the other on preparations for the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs. Member states will also negotiate 12 resolutions in the Committee of the Whole. These resolutions need to be agreed by consensus.

The CND should be streamed via Skype. However, in case the quality of the streaming is not of sufficient quality, please use a standard phone line to dial into the conference listening service. Call +43-1-26060 and enter the following listening number: 77713.

Official documentation

All official documents are available for download in UN languages on the website of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

The list of draft resolutions to be discussed at CND is now available here.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.