The United Nations adopted a new framework putting people at the centre of global policies on drug control, which the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says can help promote the “urgent, united and concerted action we need.”
Putting people first means reaffirming the cornerstone principles of the global drug control system, and the emphasis on the health and welfare of humankind that is the founding purpose of the international drug conventions,” the Executive Director of UNODC, Yury Fedotov, told delegates at the opening of the UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem (UNGASS).
The 193-member body adopted the new framework on countering the world drug problem, drafted in March 2016 in Vienna by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).The CND is the UN’s top policy-making body on the issue.
The document recognizes that to address and counter the world drug problem, appropriate emphasis should be placed on individuals, families, communities and society as a whole, with a view to promoting and protecting the health, safety and well-being of all humanity.
Putting people first means balanced approaches that are based on health and human rights, and promote the safety and security of all our societies. Putting people first means looking to the future, and recognizing that drug policies must most of all protect the potential of young people and foster their healthy styles of life and safe development,” he added.
Mr. Fedotov further underlined that countries with limited resources and capacities to address the threats to peace, security, development and health posed by illicit drugs need to be assisted, including through support for alternative livelihoods, building accountable, effective judicial and law enforcement capacities to tackle supply, and enhancing prevention and treatment services.
