ID: HR19-380

Presenting author: Ann Fordham

Presenting author biography:

Ann Fordham is IDPC’s Executive Director, leading on international advocacy efforts on drug policy and human rights. She represents IDPC at international events and works with policy makers and civil society partners around the world to review and shape drug control policies.

The 2019 UN Ministerial Segment on drugs: Global drug policy at a crossroads

Ann Fordham, Marie Nougier

2019 is the target date by which governments committed, in the 2009 Political Declaration on the ‘world drug problem’, to significantly reduce or eliminate the illegal drug market. Next March in Vienna, a Ministerial Segment will be held to take stock of progress against the 2019 target, and delineate the parameters of the next phase of global drug policy.

Governments will not be able to credibly claim progress against these so-called ‘drug-free’ goals given that coca, cannabis and opium cultivation have reached unprecedented levels, drug use continues to rise, and worryingly drug-related deaths have sky-rocketed in recent years. Epidemics of HIV and hepatitis C among people who use drugs show no signs of abating given that coverage of harm reduction programmes remains disastrously low. In parallel, there has been a disturbing increase in extra-judicial killings in the name of drug control.

The Outcome Document of the 2016 UNGASS signalled a positive shift in rhetoric in UN drug policy with greater emphasis on human rights and health, and a strong link to the Sustainable Development Goals. However, governments are deeply divided on the future of UN drug policy and there is an increasing divergence of approaches at the national level – including on decriminalisation, the provision of harm reduction and increasingly the legal regulation of certain substances.

Global drug policy is now at a crossroads and the 2019 Ministerial Segment is a critical juncture. It remains to be seen if governments can overcome the divisions that now characterise the UN debate to agree a progressive and coherent way forward.

As HR19 is a key opportunity to reflect upon outcomes of the Ministerial Segment, this presentation will outline the main conclusions, in particular on the implications for harm reduction efforts and civil society advocacy in the coming decade.