Child Rights At UNGASS On Drugs

IOGT International President to speak at UN Roundtable Discussion: Child Rights at the UNGA Special Session on Drugs (2016)
Kristina Sperkova, IOGT International president will speak at a prestigious Side Event: Roundtable Discussion: Child Rights at the UNGA Special Session on Drugs (2016).

Children’s Rights & The World Drug Problem – Obligations & Actions

Time: 13:00-14:30, Monday, April 18, 2016

Location: UN Church Centre, 777 United Nations Plaza, NY 10017

Participants

• Mr. Mihail Stoican, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Sweden
• Ms. Lina Pastorek, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Sweden
• Representative, European Union
• Mr. Nicolas Espejo Yaksic, Office Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence against Children (SRSG/VAC)
• Mr. Robert Husbands, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Dr. Nina Ferencic, HIV/AIDS & Young People Health and Development, UNICEF
• Mr. Damon Barrett, International Centre on Human Rights & Drug Policy, University of Essex
• Mr. Kasirye Rogers, Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL)
• Ms. Kristina Sperkova, President, IOGT International
• Ms. Anna D. Tomasi, Defence for Children International (DCI)

Event Context

Around the world children and young people experience devastating harms due to drugs and the drug trade. Notwithstanding international treaties and standards, the punitive trend seems to dominate the issue and has become an obstacle to the effective implementation of such instruments, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

A punitive trend towards children’s involvement in the “drug problem” does not cover the full range of issues facing children. The issue must be addressed holistically. A differentiation must be made between I) measures to prevent, II) measures to care for children who do use drugs, III) measures in the best interest of the child whose parents use drugs, and IV) prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances.

Event Objective

Discuss children’s rights and international obligations in relation to the world drug problem, identifying the gaps that impede the effective upholding of international standards (i.e. data collection & research; cross-sectorial approaches; promising practices) & evaluate ways to bridge such gaps through coordinated collaboration of different actors.

Agenda

1. Introduction & roundtable
2. Children’s Rights & UNGASS – actions and gaps
3. Beyond UNGASS – next steps
4. Conclusion