Tag: United Nations General Assembly

Call for Meaningful Civil Society Influence in the 2026 HIV Political Declaration

Posted on by DPNSEE

The Drug Policy Network South East Europe endorsed a joint letter addressed to the President of the United Nations General Assembly regarding the process leading to the 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS.

While efforts have been made to facilitate civil society engagement, including through the Multistakeholder Task Force (MSTF), there are significant concerns that the current process may limit meaningful influence on the Political Declaration. In particular, the timeline and scope of engagement risk creating a gap between participation and actual decision-making.

The letter calls for a strengthened and more substantive role for civil society, including formal recognition of the MSTF as a channel for consolidated inputs into the drafting of the Political Declaration, and the establishment of structured opportunities to engage with Member States during negotiations.

We invite all our member organisations, other civil society organisations, networks, and communities to endorse this letter following this link>>>.

Initial endorsements are welcome by 30 March 2026.

 

What does Universal Health Coverage mean for People Who Use Drugs

Posted on by Milutin

On 23 September 2019, world leaders adopted a high-level United Nations Political Declaration on universal health coverage (UHC) at the United Nations General Assembly. In adopting the declaration, U.N. Member States have committed to advance towards UHC by investing in four major areas around primary health care.

These include mechanisms to ensure no one suffers financial hardship because they have had to pay for healthcare out of their own pockets and implementing high-impact health interventions to combat diseases and protect women’s and children’s health. In addition, countries must strengthen health workforce and infrastructure and reinforce governance capacity. They will report back on their progress to the U.N. General Assembly in 2023.

The International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) published a Technical Brief which explains how UHC can be both an opportunity and a concern for the health and rights of people who use drugs.

Through sustained diplomacy and negotiation at the political level and strong and concerted advocacy from civil society and communities, UHC is now prominent in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The principle of the SDGs is ‘leave no one behind’; this should be taken to mean that those on the fringes of society are accorded the same rights to health and wellbeing as the most privileged. People who use drugs, along with other criminalised and marginalised populations, clearly fit into this category.

To read the Technical Brief, follow this link>>>