On 4 December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informally presented an advance, unedited version of his synthesis report on the post-2015 development agenda to UN Member States. "The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet" outlines a vision for Member States to consider carrying forward in negotiations leading up to the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2015 that will adopt the post-2015 development agenda.

The advanced unedited version of the report is available here. Read the Secretary-General's statement about the report.

The UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) and UN DESA Division for Sustainable Development (DESA-DSD) invite Major Groups and other civil society stakeholders to submit their official responses to the report to a central online repository via this 

Links to all submissions will be published live as they are received.

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Call for civil society responses to the UN secretary-general's synthesis report on the post-2015 development agenda

This year, the Romanian drug law was amended in the direction of decriminalisation, though the law still retains imprisonment and fines as an option, while penalties generally discriminate against the poor and socially disadvantaged.

You probably didn’t know – even most Romanian don’t – but the days when a drug user could be convicted for up to 3 years in jail just for a joint, or between 2 and 5 years for a dose of heroin, are gone. At the same time, dealers were facing dreary sentences between 10 and 20 years, or between 15 and 25 years in prison for international trafficking.

This has been the case until recently, but things changed significantly with the new Penal Code introduced in February 2014. With a little luck, drug users can now get away with paying a fine or doing community service. While the law states that the penalty for possession of drugs for personal use is between 3 months' and 2 years' imprisonment or a fine, community service can replace or accompany either the fine or the jail sentence. The fine is not a mere civil penalty, but constitutes criminal punishment and therefore comes with a criminal record. However, quite often the police look the other way when minor drug use is involved, or even small scale trafficking, such as a few marijuana cigarettes, a few doses of heroin, or unknown substances in little plastic bags; or they deal with users by fining them for civil offences, such as disturbing the peace, which users readily accept instead of harsher criminal penalties. As for community service, it is usually conducted in the domain of public sanitation, snow-clearance, park maintenance, helping the elderly, or environment protection. Work is restricted to eight hours a day, and can only be done during the daytime on working days.

Romania: Drug-related offenses reduced as new criminal code is enforced

The Anti-Death Penalty Network Asia members are shocked and disappointed at the announcement by President of Indonesia Joko Widodo that he authorised 5 executions of drug offenders to occur this month. In addition, we are equally alarmed by the announcement of the new Attorney-General HM Prasetyo that 20 other death row inmates would be executed next year, a majority of whom are also drug offenders. These executions directly violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia has ratified in 2005.

ADPAN, as a network of organisations and individuals working to abolish the death penalty across Asia, urges that President Jokowi immediately reconsider these executions, initiate a formal review of all death penalty cases, and put in a concrete plan toward the abolition of the death penalty.

Currently, there are 162 individuals on death row in Indonesia. According to Jakarta-based human rights monitor Imparsial, 66 are foreigners from 23 different countries. 77 individuals have been on death row since 2004 for drug offences, of whom 9 have already been executed. International data indicates that a majority of persons arrested and sentenced to death for drugs are from low socioeconomic backgrounds and are low-level drug couriers instead of large kingpins. (Harm Reduction International. 2012) In addition, there is no evidence that the death penalty for drugs reduces the use of drugs, reduces drug-related crime, or that it reduces trafficking.

President Jokowi, who brought forward human rights issues during the election campaigns, must re-evaluate his stance based on his promises to the Indonesian people. He must also uphold Indonesia’s international obligations under the ICCPR. We look forward to President Jokowi taking positive steps to reversing this decision. He is the Chief Executive, and should not be the Chief Executioner.

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ADPAN urges the Indonesian president to reconsider executions

Opium production in southeast Asia's "Golden Triangle" has tripled since 2006, fueling an illicit drugs trade worth $16.3 billion, a new United Nations report says.

Poppy cultivation in Myanmar and Laos stood at 63,800 hectares in 2014, compared with 61,200 hectares in 2013 -- increasing for an eighth year, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said in its Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2014.

The region produced approximately 762 tons of opium, which was most likely made into 76 tons of heroin, it said.

Myanmar accounts for the vast majority of the region's poppy cultivation. Production is particularly entrenched in the northern Shan State, near the Chinese border, where it's a staple part of the economy and helps fund rebel groups, the report added.

"Surveys of farmers indicate that, for many, the money made from poppy cultivation is an essential part of family income and support," said Yury Fedetov, the executive director of the United Nations on Drugs and Crime, said.

Opium cultivation thrives in Asia's 'Golden Triangle'

To mark World Aids Day, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, attended a football match at the Jesus and Mary College Soccer Ground in New Delhi today with teams comprised of drug users and people living with HIV.

UNODC, and its partners in UNAIDS, are currently campaigning for HIV to be confronted by 'closing the gaps' in testing, treatment and prevention, as well as to end AIDS by 2030. There are 35 million people living with HIV globally; many of these individuals confront stigma and discrimination on a daily basis.

India is a high priority country for UNODC. There are thought to be around 180,000 people who inject drugs in India. The HIV prevalence among people injecting drugs is estimated at 9.2 per cent.

Mr. Fedotov is in India as part of a mission to South Asia, which takes in visits to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. He held separate talks, before the community football match, with India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Vinod Kumar, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs. The UNODC Chief also paid a visit to UNODC staff in their office in India's capital.

In comments made at the end of his meeting at the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Fedotov said, "India is an important partner at the regional and international levels and has an essential role in confronting drug trafficking in South Asia and beyond. I very much look forward to closer cooperation and coordination between UNODC and India in the future."

India mission underscores support for communities of drug users and those living with HIV

据费多托夫先生所说，法律和政策需要进行审查以确保吸毒者和囚犯能够获得必要的服务，包括伤害减少。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

随时掌握与药物政策发展相关的最新信息。

Millions of people suffering from HIV have for decades seen their needs ignored. Life-saving prevention and treatment that should reach everyone is often non-existent, arbitrary, or dependent on geography, gender, age or background.

"Closing the gap" is the theme of this year's World AIDS Day and it focuses on reducing the disparities in service provision that create these powerful inequities.

The UNAIDS campaign calls on everyone to empower and enable people everywhere to receive the evidence-based prevention and treatment they need. This means a level playing field for everyone by closing the testing, treatment and prevention access gaps.

UNODC assists people who use drugs, and people in prisons. Countries can help stem the epidemic among these populations, and by doing so, lend their support to the global target of ending AIDS by 2030.

But these gaps cannot be overcome without confronting the stigma, discrimination, and human rights breaches. No one facing HIV should be left behind or ignored. Laws and policies need to be reviewed to ensure drug users and prisoners have access to the necessary services, including harm reduction.

禁毒办执行主任尤里·费多托夫在世界艾滋病日的声明

这些由执法和艾滋病网络（LEAHN）完成的采访显示了警方如何在全球应对艾滋病方面做出积极的贡献。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

In October 2014, a consultation on police and HIV took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The following interviews are with some of the country focal points of the Law Enforcement and HIV Network (LEAHN), each of whom is a serving or a retired senior police officer, and each of whom is committed to ensuring that the police make a positive contribution in their countries and the global HIV response.

The Consultation on Police and HIV was co-convened by LEAHN – Law Enforcement and HIV Network, IDLO – International Development Law Organization and Birkbeck, University of London.

The meeting produced the 'Amsterdam Declaration on Police Partnerships for Harm Reduction' which can be downloaded from LEAHN‘s website leahn.org .

Video produced by georgetownmedia.de for CLEPH – Centre For Law Enforcement & Public Health

HIV和危害减少：治安重点人群

危害减少项目被证实有效地减少了艾滋病的传播，同时为毒品使用者和那些接近他们的人提供了社会支持。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

On December 1st we are delighted to share with you a short film calling for increased funding for harm reduction. Almost 13 million of people around the world inject drugs. And outside of sub-Saharan Africa they accounts for estimated 30% of new HIV infections. Harm reduction programmes have proven efficient in reducing HIV spread, as well as providing social support to people who use drugs and those close to them. Harm reduction restores families. Harm reduction rebuilds communities. Harm reduction saves lives. Harm reduction works. Harm reduction needs funding!

危害减少需要资金

这封信提出了对于新的全球基金将分配给主要受影响人群所造成影响的关切。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

This open letter to the Global Fund Board was drafted in advance of its Thirty-Second Meeting, and signed by 24 civil society organisations from around the world. The letter details grave concerns regarding the impact of the funding allocation methodology applied to middle-income countries (MICs) or those transitioning to middle-income status, and the ultimate consequences this will have on key affected populations.

 民间社会组织在其第三十二次会议前向全球基金董事会提交公开信

In Europe, decades of investment in effective HIV prevention measures targeting people who inject drugs continue to bear fruit as demonstrated by the long-term decline in HIV diagnoses related to drug injecting. Over the past ten years, the rate of newly reported HIV diagnoses attributed to injecting drug use in the EU, Turkey and Norway has more than halved from 52 per million population in 2004 (2644 cases) to 25 in 2013 (1458 cases) (see figure below, data source: ECDC, 2014).

Uneven investment in HIV prevention makes Europe vulnerable

The trend can quickly change, however, as it did when HIV spread rapidly among injecting drug users in Greece and Romania in 2011 and 2012. In the absence of effective measures to curb these epidemics, the explosive spread of infections among injecting drug users in the capital cities resulted in these two countries accounting for more than one third of all new HIV diagnoses associated with injecting drug use notified in the whole of the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) in 2012, whereas in 2010 they had represented only 2% of the total.

Gaps in HIV prevention expose Europe to risk of outbreaks

The Home Office has launched the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme on December 1st, with thirty-five forces going live immediately.

The voluntary scheme, which was announced by the Home Secretary in April, is part of a range of measures that will contribute to a reduction in the overall use of stop and search, lead to better and more intelligence-led stop and searches and more effective outcomes.

The thirty-five forces going live today have implemented all aspects of the scheme to:

increase transparency by recording all outcomes of stop and search and whether there is a connection between the grounds for the search and the outcome;

restrict the use of Section 60 “no suspicion” powers;

give members of the public the opportunity to observe stop and search in practice; and

introduce a community complaints trigger – ensuring that complaints are properly monitored and scrutinised.

Thirty-five police forces across England and Wales will fully implement the stop and search scheme from today

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