The World Drug Problem: Taking Stock and Strengthening Global Response - Part 2

The world drug problem and how to address it is the focus of this major parliamentary hearing at the United Nations in New York on 8-9 February.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Side Events
• Video Length: 02:27:47
• Production Date: 8 February 2016
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Corporate Name: INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION - IPU
• Subject Topical: DRUG; DRUG ABUSE; DRUG PRODUCTION; DRUG TRADE; DRUG TRAFFICKING
• MAMS Id: 1560906
• Parent Id: 1559854

Description

The world drug problem and how to address it will be the focus of a major parliamentary hearing at the United Nations in New York on 8-9 February. The event is being jointly organized by IPU and the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly. Hundreds of MPs from around the world, as well as IPU President Saber Chowdhury, President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Yuri Fedotov, will attend.

The hearing, “The World Drug Problem: Taking Stock and Strengthening the Global Response”, will review progress parliaments made on the issue since a plan of action on illegal drugs was adopted by governments in 2009. The plan set 2019 as a target date for eliminating or significantly reducing supply, demand and associated criminal activity such as money laundering.

MPs, experts and representatives from international organizations and civil society will examine the problem and the global response, focusing on key areas such as finding the most effective solutions to new and existing challenges, increasing international cooperation, and identifying the links between drug trafficking, organized crime and corruption. They will address the underlying question of whether the so-called “war on drugs”, which relies on a law-enforcement solution to the problem of illicit drugs, is working as intended. The MPs will also explore whether drug policy needs rethinking in light of the new people-centred Sustainable Development Goals.

The impact of the global problem can be felt in many areas, including the diversion of resources from healthcare to law enforcement, the displacement of people affected by drug production and the criminalization and marginalization of drug users. IPU-UN parliamentary hearings enable MPs to feed their views and experiences into UN work and decision-making processes, as well as increasing their understanding of those processes. The conclusions and recommendations of this hearing will be fed into a UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem, UNGASS 2016, in April.