Category: General News

UN resolution that doesn’t include “drug-free world”

Posted on by Milutin

From the Ann Fordham’s article published at the IDPC webiste

For decades, debates and political commitments on drug policy at the United Nations have been plagued by the goal of ‘achieving a society free of drugs’ (or ‘drug abuse’). This fantastical notion has underpinned unimaginable harm as governments all over the world have strived to eradicate drugs through draconian measures. Despite these efforts, the global market in illegal drugs grows ever larger, more robust and with a greater diversity of substances. In parallel, the human cost of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ continues to grow exponentially – a devastating crisis of mass incarceration, overdose deaths, extrajudicial killings and a litany of human rights violations that have impacted some of society’s most marginalised.

Last week the UN General Assembly made history by adopting a resolution on drugs that did not include the long-standing reference to ‘actively promote a society free of drug abuse’ for the first time in three decades. Not only was this overly simplistic, ‘war on drugs’-era notion absent from the text, but the resolution includes some of the strongest ever human rights language relating to drug policy, an aspect on which the main UN drug policy forum in Vienna (the Commission on Narcotic Drugs) has made little progress in recent years.

Resolutions on drug policy at the General Assembly have always been agreed by consensus, however this resolution broke new ground as it was adopted – for the first time in history – after a vote.

It was a reluctant breaking of the consensus with an unprecedented number of countries making statements before the vote in the 3rd Committee, many of them lamenting the need for a vote and noting their hope for a return to the usual consensus for future drug policy resolutions. Ultimately, when the resolution reached the plenary of the General Assembly, a total of 124 Member States voted in favour of the resolution, while 9 voted against, with 45 abstentions.

Overall, by emphasising human rights concepts and doing away with tired and ultimately harmful ideological objectives such as ‘a society free of drug abuse’, the resolution goes a long way towards refocusing international cooperation away from reducing illegal cultivation, production and drug trafficking and towards reducing the negative consequences of the global drug situation on individuals and communities.

Crucially, this progressive text was adopted by an overwhelming majority of Member States, with only 9 countries voting against it. This demonstrates that the ‘Vienna consensus’ has been an instrument to hold back progress on drug policy making, pushing the international community towards policies and narratives that are far more conservative than those of a majority of Member States.

Read more about in the article at the IDPC website following this link>>>.

 

The Global Fund Eligibility List 2023

Posted on by Milutin

Whether a country or region is eligible for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria support is determined by its income classification and disease burden, as detailed in the Global Fund’s Eligibility Policy. The policy is designed to ensure available resources are allocated to countries with the highest disease burden, the least economic capacity, and where key and vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by the three diseases.

A particular country’s eligibility by component (HIV, tuberculosis and malaria) is recorded annually in the Eligibility List.

The Global Fund published the Eligibility List 2023. It identifies which country components are eligible for an allocation for the 2023-2025 allocation period in support of the Global Fund Strategy for 2023-2028, Fighting Pandemics and Building a Healthier and More Equitable World.’

A few countries from South East Europe are at the list:

  • Kosovo* for HIV and Tuberculosis – both Transition (2020 & 2023)
  • Montenegro for HIV
  • North Macedonia for HIV
  • Romania for Tuberculosis – Transition (2023)
  • Serbia for HIV

Albania is not at the list any more – their Transition project ended. Newcomer is North Macedonia, which is good, but question is why Bosnia Herzegovina is not at the list as situation there is worse and no har reduction/prevention service is available in the country?

Since Romania is not on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of Official Development Assistance (ODA) recipients, Romania may be eligible for an allocation for HIV for non-governmental or civil society organizations under Paragraph 9b of the Eligibility Policy only if there are demonstrated barriers to providing funding for interventions for key populations, as supported by the country’s epidemiology. As 2023 is an allocation year, the Secretariat has conducted an assessment and has determined that Romania does not meet the requirements under Paragraph 9b of the Eligibility Policy. Therefore, Romania has been determined not to be eligible for an HIV allocation for the 2023-2025 allocation period.

The Eligibility List 2023 is available following this link>>>.

 

Meeting with the UN agencies

Posted on by Milutin

DPNSEE and partners in the “Emergency support for the provision of HIV and Harm Reduction services among key populations in Ukraine and refugees in selected neighbouring countries” project in Serbia held an online meeting with the representatives of he UN agencies in the country. The aim of the meeting was to present the project and to ensure that it is connected with the work of the agencies.

We expect that the support of the UN system will contribute to establishing good relations and eliminate potential challenges in implementation of the project.

End of the Czech EU Presidency

Posted on by Milutin

Based on the article from the EMCDDA webpage

This month, the Czech six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU draws to a close. With the motto ‘Rebuild, Rethink, Repower’, the Presidency focused on five key priorities: managing the refugee crisis and post-war reconstruction of Ukraine; energy security; strengthening European defence capabilities and cybersecurity; strategic resilience of the European economy; and the resilience of democratic institutions.

In the drugs field, the country led the Council’s Horizontal Working Group on Drugs (HDG), the body responsible for leading and managing the Council’s work in the drugs field and carrying out legislative and general policy work in the areas of supply reduction and demand reduction.

The human rights dimension of drug policy was a key topic over the six-month period, with work culminating in Council conclusions on this issue on 8 December, endorsed by the Council for Justice and Home Affairs. The document invites EU Member States to ‘further support the development and implementation of evidence-based policies and interventions that put human rights at the centre of drug responses, whilst countering crime and ensuring public safety and security, sustainable and viable livelihoods and the health of individuals, families and communities across the EU’.

The document also invites EU Member States to ‘further promote drug policies that adhere to human rights, address discrimination, and reduce the stigma on people who use drugs, in order to ensure voluntary access to services, including prevention, evidence-based life-skills programmes, risk and harm reduction, early detection and intervention, counselling, treatment, rehabilitation, social reintegration and recovery of people who use drugs, as well as treatment of drug-related comorbidities’.

The text includes many amendments, however thanks to a constructive debate among all EU Member States, it was approved by consensus. DPNSEE, along with other members of the Civil Society Forum on Drugs, participated in consultations and provided contributions to the document. Unfortunately, we see that most of the civil society proposals were not taken into account in the final version. This is the price of the consensus requested by the EU regulations where even one country can block initiatives that are supported by others, even if they are realistic and forward looking.

Ministers call for a human rights-centred approach to drug policies

Posted on by Milutin

From the Pompidou group website

Closing the 18th Ministerial Conference of the Council of Europe’s Pompidou Group, ministers and high-level participants from 41 Pompidou Group member states have called for a human rights centred approach to address drugs addictions and related disorders.

In their “Lisbon Declaration”, participants furthermore called for exploring strategies to address addictions related to the use of communication and information technologies, as part of a broad policy direction to be followed by the Pompidou Group over the near future.

Portugal, which has been presiding the Pompidou Group since 2019, hosted the two-day conference, which gathered some 150 participants, including ministers, representatives from 46 governments and six international organisations or agencies, as well as drug policy experts, law enforcement, health and justice officials, and civil society representatives.

Before adopting their declaration, participants assessed the impact of current trends in drug trafficking, from increased use of performance- and image-enhancing drugs to behavioural addictions, such as excessive and compulsive video gaming, gambling and online shopping.

On the basis of a report drawn up by the Pompidou Group’s Permanent Correspondents, conference participants also reviewed activities and achievements under Portugal’s presidency and adopted a new work programme for 2023-2025.

The conference inaugurates a new era, as Portuguese Health Minister Manuel Pizarro handed over its presidency to Italy, represented by the Under Secretary of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Alfredo Mantovano. Switzerland has been named Pompidou group Vice-President.

The Pompidou Group’s Lisbon Declaration is available following this link>>>.

 

Calling for rights-affirming drug policies

Posted on by Milutin

Ahead of International Human Rights Day on 10th December 2022, which will celebrate the legacy and relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ahead of its 75th anniversary, the International Drug Policy Consortium sent an open letter to Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. For the third year in a row, IDPC and more than 100 civil society organisations urge UNODC Director to mark International Human Rights Day by calling for rights-affirming drug policies.

The signatories are calling on UN member states to change drug policies and practices to fulfil the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to place human rights at the centre of all dimensions of UNODC’s work.

The human rights catastrophe brought about by punitive drug policies is well documented by the United Nations system. Every year, UN human rights experts pay increasing attention to the human rights consequences of drug policies, and more are announced to come soon. The recent and unprecedented joint statement released on 26th June 2022 (UN World Drug Day) by 13 UN human rights special mandates, in particular, notes that ‘the UN system, the international community and individual Member States have a historical responsibility to reverse the devastation brought about by decades of a global “war on drugs”’. The joint statement calls on all UN agencies to ‘ground their drug policy responses in international human rights law and standards’, and to ensure that their ‘financial and technical assistance on drug policy’ promotes responses that are ‘gender responsive’ while ‘actively seeking to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms’.

The Open letter is available following this link>>>.

 

What routes do narcotics take to Europe?

Posted on by Milutin

DPNSEE Executive Director Milutin Milošević, who is also member of the Working Group on Chapter 24 Justice, Freedom and Security of the National Convention on the European Union, spoke in the morning program of the K1 TV in Serbia. The topic was the Operation Desert Light, where authorities in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates worked together to bring down so called drug “super cartel”.

The talk included also various other issues related to the drug policy in Serbia and wider.

The recording of the program is available (in Serbian) below.

Updated national drug situation overviews for North Macedonia and Serbia

Posted on by Milutin

From the EMCDDA webpage

The EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) published updated national drug situation overviews for North Macedonia and Serbia. These reports are the result of an 8-month online capacity-building exercise, organised with the support of the Austrian Reitox national focal point Gesundheit Österreich (Austrian National Public Health Institute).

The report on the Republic of North Macedonia provides a top-level overview of the drug situation in the country, covering drug supply, use and public health problems as well as drug policy and responses. It brings together the most recent data available by the end of May 2022.

The report on Serbia provides a top-level overview of the drug phenomenon in this country, covering drug supply, use and public health problems as well as drug policy and health and social responses. The report contributes to a better understanding of the drug situation in Europe and is targeted at national and international audiences, including government, civil society, researchers and funders.

The reports are available following these links – North Macedonia – Serbia.

 

EMCDDA closing conference of two cooperation projects

Posted on by Milutin

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) hosted the closing conference of its international cooperation projects with the Western Balkans and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) region. The two-day event was held on 21 and 22 November 2022, in the margins of Lisbon Addictions 2022, Europe’s largest conference in the area of addictions.

The objective of the two projects is to familiarise the project beneficiaries with EU policies and working methods and to prepare them for consolidated and structured reporting to the EMCDDA.

Under the theme ‘Drugs beyond EU borders: emerging trends and preparedness’, the event focused on cross-border drug-related health and security threats in the Western Balkans and on drug markets and emerging drug-related challenges in the ENP region.

Over 80 participants – from 18 partners, EU institutions and other bodies – attended the meeting (in Lisbon and online) to discuss the results of this cooperation. Among others, experts took a look at the preparedness of health and security services in the regions to address the emerging threat of cocaine trafficking and use. DPNSEE Executive Director Milutin Milošević was among the speakers in the Moderated panel discussion: How prepared are the partners for emerging cocaine trafficking and use?

The meeting also provided a platform for partners to present work undertaken in the framework of the projects aimed at improving knowledge on the drug situation in the region and at scaling up responses.

In cooperation with the Portuguese national focal point (SICAD), the meeting concluded with onsite visits to: a commission for the dissuasion of drug use; a judicial police forensic laboratory; a community-based harm reduction programme; a low-threshold mobile unit for methadone distribution and a drug consumption room.

Visit to the GAT drop-in centre in Mouraria, run by the peers from the population of people who use(d) drugs

EMCDDA new analysis on the drug situation in the Western Balkans

Posted on by Milutin

From the EMCDDA webpage

Drug-related health and security threats in the Western Balkans are highlighted in a new report published by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA). Released in the framework of the agency’s latest Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance project (IPA7), funded by the EU, the report provides the latest picture of the drug situation in the region.

The report offers a top-level analysis of drug markets, their drivers, facilitators and consequences, as well as an overview of drug policy and the law, drug use, harms and responses. It concludes with a regional overview of each of the major drug types, focusing on use, production and trafficking. Additional challenges, such as corruption, violence and the internationalisation of organised crime networks are also considered.

The findings are based on EMCDDA data collected through structured questionnaires and complemented by information from studies, focus groups and scientific literature. It appears that drug-related information is overall relatively limited in the region, although this varies, to some extent, between the partners concerned.

The report presents a summary of ‘key findings’, including:

  • Available data show that overall drug use in the region appears to be lower than in the neighbouring EU, although notable differences in patterns of use can be observed between the Western Balkan partners. There is an ongoing need to better monitor harms associated with opioid and cocaine use in the region, as evidence suggests that use of these substances is evolving in ways that could have important implications in future.
  • Harm reduction services operate in all of the partners, but the provision of interventions appears to be generally insufficient and is often dependent on international funding. Data point to an overarching need in the region to increase the provision of treatment and other services for people with drug problems. In particular, responses targeting harmful patterns of use for non-opioid drugs appear to be currently underdeveloped, while, at the same time, demand for such responses may be growing.
  • Western Balkan criminal networks appear to have become key actors in both the regional and EU drug markets. This partly reflects the geographical position of the Western Balkans, which lie at the intersection of a number of major drug trafficking routes (e.g. Balkan route for heroin), but also, potentially, some emerging routes for other drugs, including cocaine. These criminal networks have a significant impact on security, governance and the rule of law in the region.
  • Some criminal networks from the Western Balkans have adopted a new business model of direct involvement in cannabis production within the EU. Their presence in a number of EU countries, primarily associated with indoor production facilities, has been noted. Patterns of cannabis cultivation in the region are shifting and diversifying. Significantly less cannabis is cultivated outdoors in Albania than in the past, while large-scale cannabis cultivation sites have been recorded in other parts of the Western Balkan region.
  • Violence associated with competition for drug markets and control of trafficking routes is a significant security threat. A number of homicides in the EU and elsewhere have been linked to Western Balkan criminal networks involved in the drug trade, particularly the cocaine business.

The report is available following this link>>>.