CND Intersessional meeting - Thematic session on the implementation of all international drug policy commitments following up to the 2019 Ministerial Declaration

As per the workplan agreed upon on 24th June 2019, thematic discussions will take place every autumn during the period between 2019-22, addressing the challenges identified by the taking stock paragraph of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration.

Accordingly, on 21-22 September, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs will meet to discuss the following three elements of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration’s “Taking Stock” paragraph:

that responses not in conformity with the three international drug control conventions and not in conformity with applicable international human rights obligations pose a challenge to the implementation of joint commitments based on the principle of common and shared responsibility

Day 1 (21 September) will likely focus on the drug control conventions, day 2 (22 September) will likely focus on human rights obligations.

Logistics and participation

The meeting will be held in a hybrid format from 10:30 AM-1:30 PM and 3-6 PM CEST (Vienna) / 4:30-7:30 AM and 9 AM-12 PM EDT (New York).The meeting will be webcast at https://webcast.unodc.org/webcast/en/live/cnd.html
The meeting will also convene in-person in Board Room C, on the 4th floor of the C-Building at the Vienna International Centre. Organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC are invited to send observers. To attend in-person, you'll need to send a letter requesting accreditation, signed by the head of the organization, to the Secretariat of the Commission (unodc-sgb@un.org) as soon as possible but no later than September 14. Please also make sure to include the registration form (also attached for convenience).

Please note that no funding is available to support civil society participants. All delegates will have to cover their own expenses. Interpretation will not be available during the meeting.

Civil society involvement

For each day up to 5 NGOs will have the possibility to present their work and positioning.

In order to ensure inclusive, comprehensive and meaningful civil society participation, NGOs will work through the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) which has been requested to coordinate contributions.

Each speaker will have 3-5 minutes to present their work on the thematic focus of the day.

Interpretation will not be available during the meetings and all abstracts and statements have to be submitted in English.

In order to apply for a speaking slot, please fill out this online form.

DEADLINE: 22 August 2022 at 11:45 p.m. (CEST, Vienna local time).

Make sure that your abstract is relevant to the topic of the event, and clearly describes what you will be presenting about.

Statements focusing on good practice examples and/or implementation are especially welcome.