Organisational arrangements for the Special Session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem

1. The General Assembly will convene a special session on the world drug problem from 19 to 21 April 2016 at UN Headquarters in New York, in accordance with its resolutions 67/193 of 20 December 2012, 69/200 of 18 December 2014 and 70/181 of 17 December 2015.

2. The General Assembly, in paragraph 3 (f) of resolution 70/181, decided that the special session shall consist of a general debate and interactive multi-stakeholder round tables conducted in parallel with the plenary.

Participation

3. Participation in the special session will be in accordance with paragraphs 11 and 12 of resolution 69/200 and paragraphs 3, 7 and 8 of resolution 70/181.

4. The special session will be attended by several Heads of State and Government and will have a significant level of ministerial participation. Convocation letters for the special session have been sent by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Member States, Observer States, Observers, heads of the principal organs of the United Nations and the heads of the specialized agencies of the United Nations.

5. In accordance with paragraph 3(d) of resolution 70/181, the list of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, who pre-registered to participate in the special session, will be circulated to Member States for their information.

6. In accordance with paragraph 3(e) of resolution 70/181, the list of representatives of relevant non-governmental organizations, representatives of civil society and the scientific community, academia, youth groups and other relevant stakeholders that may participate in the special session, will be submitted to Member States for their consideration. The final list will then be transmitted to Member States.

7. Pursuant to the provisions mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6, registration is now open for representatives of organizations actively working on drug-related matters from non-governmental organizations, civil society, the scientific and academic communities, youth groups and other relevant stakeholders. Organizations wishing to attend the special session have been informed of the need to register by applying through the following website: http://bit.ly/UNGASS-2016. Applications for general registration are being accepted from 1 February – 28 March 2016.

8. In addition, pursuant to paragraph 8 of resolution 70/181, Member States, Observer States and Observers are encouraged to consider the possible participation of youth representatives at the special session.

Programme of the High-level Meeting

9. The special session will comprise plenary meetings and five interactive multi-stakeholder round tables. Additional explanatory details are provided below.

Plenary meetings

10. In accordance with paragraph 3(b) of resolution 70/181, the opening plenary meeting of the special session scheduled on 19 April 2016 at 10 a.m. will feature statements by the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, the Chair of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the President of the International Narcotics Control Board and the Director-General of the World Health Organization.

11. The formal plenary meetings are scheduled on 19, 20 and 21 April 2016 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. To enable maximum participation within the limited time available, statements in the plenary meetings should not exceed three minutes when speaking in the national capacity and five minutes when speaking on behalf of a group. A list of speakers is open for inscription at the General Assembly Affairs Branch (room S-3082. tel. (212) 963-5063; fax. (212) 963-3783; or email: poliakova[at]un.org).

12. Speaking order will follow the customary protocol order. Accordingly, precedence will be accorded to representatives at the Heads of State or Government and Ministerial levels.

13. The closing plenary meeting in the afternoon of 21 April 2016 will feature the Co-chairs’ summaries of the salient points of the interactive multi-stakeholder round tables and concluding remarks by the President of the General Assembly.

Documentation, statements and interpretation

14. At the special session of the General Assembly, hard copies of documents will be available at the documents distribution counters located inside the General Assembly Hall. For the roundtables taking place in conference room 4, hard copies of documents will be available at the documents booth in the conference room.

15. Delegations are requested to provide 30 copies of their statements, to be submitted by a delegation representative to the receiving area at the documentation desk located at the rear of the General Assembly Hall between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. for distribution to the various conference services. The delegation representative should be in possession of a valid United Nations grounds pass. Access will be at the 46th Street gate, through the screening area, utilizing the West side elevators in the lobby of the General Assembly Building to the second floor, where a representative of the Secretariat will accept the texts at a designated counter. The texts of the speeches will be accepted only on the day they are to be given.

16. Additionally, delegations are invited to submit PDF formatted versions of their statements via e-mail to papersmart[at]un.org. Delegations wishing to circulate their statements electronically through the PaperSmart portal should provide them not later than two hours in advance of delivery to papersmart[at]un.org. Alternatively, delegations can bring a hard copy (unstapled and printed single-sided), for scanning and uploading, to the PaperSmart portal at the documents distribution counter located inside the General Assembly Hall or at the conference officers’ desk in conference room 4. The name of the meeting and the agenda item should be indicated in the subject line of the e‑mail and in the heading of the statement. The statements will remain embargoed until their delivery and then posted. Only statements presented during the course of the meeting will be posted.

17. Statements made in any of the six official languages of the General Assembly are interpreted into the other official languages. Any speaker may also make a statement in a language other than the official languages. In such cases, in accordance with rule 53 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly, the delegation in question must provide either an interpreter from the non-official language into an official language, or a written text of the statement in one of the official languages to be read out by a United Nations interpreter. On the basis of this interpretation or the written text which is accepted by the Secretariat as representing the official text of the statement, it will be interpreted into the other official languages by United Nations interpreters. When a written text is provided, the delegation concerned should make available to the interpreter someone who knows the language in which the statement is to be delivered and the official language into which it has been translated, to guide the interpreter through the translated text and to ensure synchronization between the speaker and the interpreter. Detailed arrangements for interpretation from non-official languages, including access by non-United Nations interpreters to the interpreter booths in the General Assembly Hall, must be made in advance through the Meetings Management Section (telephone: 212 963 8114; e‑mail: emeetsm[at]un.org). The interpreter or the guide provided by the delegation should be brought by the delegation to the conference officers’ desk in front of the General Assembly Hall 30 minutes prior to the delivery of the statement.

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