International Cooperation Against the World Drug Problem

A/RES/68/197View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 109 International drug control, published in 2014.

What other versions does this mandate have?

18 versions · 1999–2016

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/70/182

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2016	A/RES/70/182	International cooperation against the world drug problem	7,448	79%Compare
2015	A/RES/69/201	International cooperation against the world drug problem	6,578	54%Compare
2014	A/RES/68/197	International cooperation against the world drug problem	6,129	82%Compare
2013	A/RES/67/193	International cooperation against the world drug problem	5,521	76%Compare
2012	A/RES/66/183	International cooperation against the world drug problem	4,807	69%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

14 reports · 2003–2016

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2016	A/71/316	International cooperation against the world drug problem report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/182
2015	A/70/98	International cooperation against the world drug problem report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/69/201
2014	A/69/111	International cooperation against the world drug problem report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/68/197
2013	A/68/126	International cooperation against the world drug problem report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/67/193
2012	A/67/157	International cooperation against the world drug problem report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/66/183

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 subjects

Drug Control Drug Policy Drug Traffic Hiv/Aids Prevention International Cooperation Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances Technical Cooperation

What’s in this document?

52 operative paragraphs

Reiterates its call upon States to take, in a timely manner, the measures necessary to implement the actions and attain the goals and targets set out in the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem,Error: Reference source not found adopted by the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session;

Reaffirms that countering the world drug problem is a common and shared responsibility that must be addressed in a multilateral setting, that it requires an integrated and balanced approach and that it must be carried out in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and other provisions of international law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights¹⁹ and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action²⁰ on human rights and, in particular, with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, for the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States and for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and on the basis of the principles of equal rights and mutual respect;

¹⁹Resolution 217 A (III).

²⁰A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.

Calls upon Member States to engage in effective cooperation and practical action aimed at addressing the world drug problem on the basis of the principle of common and shared responsibility;

Encourages Member States to give adequate consideration to the negative effects of the world drug problem and its consequences on development and on society in general;

Invites Member States to implement comprehensive drug abuse prevention measures from a perspective that considers the individual as well as the community and society as a whole, including through public-health education on the dangers of drug abuse, violence prevention, rehabilitation and aftercare to reintegrate former drug users into society, as well as anticipate, detect and analyse various risks to communities associated with drug-related violence and crime;

Undertakes to promote bilateral, regional and international cooperation, including through intelligence-sharing and cross-border cooperation, aimed at countering the world drug problem more effectively, in particular by encouraging and supporting such cooperation by those States most directly affected by illicit crop cultivation and the illicit production, manufacture, transit, trafficking, distribution and abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;

Reiterates the commitment of Member States to promoting, developing, reviewing or strengthening effective, comprehensive, integrated drug demand reduction programmes, based on scientific evidence and covering a range of measures, including primary prevention, education, early detection and intervention, treatment, care and related support services, recovery support, rehabilitation and social reintegration efforts, aimed at promoting health and social well-being among individuals, families and communities and reducing the adverse consequences of drug abuse for individuals and society as a whole, taking into account the specific needs of women and the particular challenges posed by high-risk drug users, in full compliance with the three international drug control conventions and in accordance with national legislation, and commits Member States to investing increased resources in ensuring access to those interventions on a non-discriminatory basis, including in detention facilities, bearing in mind that those interventions should also consider vulnerabilities that undermine human development, such as poverty and social marginalization;

Notes with great concern the adverse consequences of drug abuse for individuals and society as a whole, reaffirms the commitment of all Member States to tackling those problems in the context of comprehensive, complementary and multisectoral drug demand reduction strategies, in particular such strategies targeting children, young people and their families, also notes with great concern the alarming rise in the incidence of HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne diseases among injecting drug users, also reaffirms the commitment of all Member States to working towards the goal of universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes and treatment, care and related support services, in full compliance with the international drug control conventions and in accordance with national legislation, taking into account all relevant General Assembly resolutions and, when applicable, the technical guide for countries to set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care for injecting drug users, issued by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, requests the Office to carry out its mandate in this area in close cooperation with relevant organizations and programmes of the United Nations system, such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and takes note of Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 56/6 of 15 March 2013Error: Reference source not found on these issues;

Urges Member States, where appropriate, to develop national responses to address the issue of drug-affected driving by, inter alia, exchanging information and best practices on effective responses, including through engagement with the international scientific and legal communities;

Encourages Member States to promote, in accordance with Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolutions 53/4Error: Reference source not found and 54/6,Error: Reference source not found the adequate availability of internationally controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes while preventing their diversion and abuse, and requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Narcotics Control Board to continue their efforts in that regard;

Urges all Member States to enact comprehensive measures aimed at stemming the abuse of prescription drugs, in particular through the establishment of awareness-raising initiatives targeting the general public and health-care providers;

Acknowledges the continuing efforts made and the progress achieved in countering the world drug problem, notes with great concern the continuing illicit production of and trafficking in opium, the continuing illicit manufacture of and trafficking in cocaine, the increasing illicit production of and trafficking in cannabis, the ongoing global spread of the illicit manufacture of amphetamine-type stimulants and the increasing diversion of precursors, as well as the related distribution and use of illicit drugs, and stresses the need to strengthen and intensify joint efforts at the national, regional and international levels to tackle those global challenges in a more comprehensive manner, in accordance with the principle of common and shared responsibility, including by means of enhanced and better-coordinated technical and financial assistance;

Expresses its concern that, despite the efforts of Member States and the international community, the extent of illicit drug use has remained stable, although patterns of abuse, production and trafficking continue to shift from country to country;

Stresses that it is absolutely imperative for Member States to strengthen international efforts in order to achieve more effective results in countering the world drug problem;

Invites Member States to take appropriate measures so as to strengthen international cooperation and the exchange of information regarding the identification of new routes and modi operandi of organized criminal groups dedicated to the diversion or smuggling of substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, in particular with respect to their trafficking via the Internet, and to continue to notify the International Narcotics Control Board of such information;

Continues to encourage Member States to promote, in accordance with Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 56/4,Error: Reference source not found the sharing of information on the potential abuse of and trafficking in synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, as well as the sharing of information with regard to patterns of use, risks to public health, forensic data and the regulation of new psychoactive substances;

Encourages Member States to adopt, where necessary, measures to strengthen public awareness of the risks, threats and negative impacts to society posed by the abuse of drugs;

Recognizes:

That sustainable crop control strategies targeting the illicit cultivation of crops used for the production of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances require international cooperation based on the principle of shared responsibility and an integrated and balanced approach, taking into account the rule of law and, where appropriate, security concerns, with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States and all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

That such crop control strategies include, inter alia, alternative development and, where appropriate, preventive alternative development programmes, eradication and law enforcement measures;

That alternative development is an important, lawful, viable and sustainable alternative to the illicit cultivation of drug crops and an effective measure for countering the world drug problem and other drug-related crime challenges, as well as a choice in favour of societies free of drug abuse, that it is one of the key components of policies and programmes for reducing illicit drug production and that it is an integral part of efforts by Governments to achieve sustainable development within their societies;

That such crop control strategies should be in full conformity with article 14 of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988Error: Reference source not found and appropriately coordinated and phased in accordance with national policies in order to achieve the sustainable eradication of illicit crops and facilitate long-term development, noting furthermore the need for Member States to undertake to increase long-term investment in such strategies, coordinated with other development measures, in order to contribute to the sustainability of social and economic development and poverty eradication in affected rural areas, taking due account of the traditional licit uses of crops where there is historical evidence of such use and giving due consideration to the protection of the environment;

Welcomes the adoption of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Alternative Development,6 and encourages Member States, international organizations, entities and other relevant stakeholders to take into due account the Guiding Principles when designing and implementing alternative development programmes;

Recognizes the significant role played by developing countries with extensive expertise in alternative development, including preventive alternative development, in promoting best practices and lessons learned from such programmes, and invites them to continue sharing those best practices with States affected by illicit crop cultivation, including those emerging from conflict, with a view to using them, where appropriate, in accordance with the national specificities of each State;

Urges Member States to intensify their cooperation with and assistance to transit States affected by illicit drug trafficking, directly or through the competent regional and international organizations, in accordance with article 10 of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988, and on the basis of the principle of shared responsibility and the need for all States to promote and implement measures to counter the drug problem in all its aspects with an integrated and balanced approach;

Requests the international community, in particular the countries of destination, to continue to provide, on the basis of the principle of shared responsibility, urgent and sufficient technical assistance and support to the most affected transit States, in full cooperation with national authorities, in order to promote the capacities of such States to counter the flow of illicit drugs;

Reiterates the urgent need for Member States to strengthen international and regional cooperation in order to respond to the serious challenges posed by the increasing links between drug trafficking, money-laundering, corruption and other forms of organized crime, including trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, trafficking in firearms, cybercrime and, in some cases, terrorism and the financing of terrorism, and to the significant challenges faced by law enforcement and judicial authorities in responding to the ever-changing means used by transnational criminal organizations, including the corruption of State officials, to avoid detection and prosecution;

Recognizes the increasing links between drug trafficking and the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms in some regions of the world and the need to prevent the spread of that problem to other regions, and urges Member States to take adequate measures, consistent with their international treaty obligations and other relevant international standards, to fully cooperate in preventing the acquisition and use of firearms and ammunition by criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and in combating the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in such firearms and ammunition;

Reaffirms the importance of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and its regional offices in building capacity at the local level in the fight against transnational organized crime and drug trafficking, and urges the Office to consider regional vulnerabilities, projects and impact in the fight against drug trafficking, in particular in developing countries, when deciding to close and allocate offices, with a view to maintaining an effective level of support for national and regional efforts in countering the world drug problem;

Urges the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to increase collaboration with intergovernmental, international and relevant regional organizations involved in addressing the world drug problem, as appropriate, in order to share best practices and scientific standards, and to maximize the benefits from their unique comparative advantage;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, upon request, to continue providing technical assistance to Member States so as to enhance capacity in countering the world drug problem, including enhancing the analytical work of laboratories, by carrying out training programmes to develop indicators and instruments for the collection and analysis of accurate, reliable and comparable data on all relevant aspects of the world drug problem and, where appropriate, enhance or develop new national indicators and instruments, and invites Member States to invest, where necessary and taking into account specific needs and available resources, in capacity-building and quality-enhancing activities for the collection and reporting of information, and to participate in joint cooperation efforts organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and/or by other national, regional or international organizations and bodies, aimed at the exchange of technical knowledge of experts in the area of data collection, analysis and evaluation and of practical experience in the area of drug data;

Recognizes the need to collect relevant data and information regarding international cooperation for countering the world drug problem at all levels, and urges Member States to support dialogue through the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in order to address this issue;

Urges Member States to regularly report data and information related to all aspects of the world drug problem to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime through the annual report questionnaires, including the data on significant individual drug seizures, as mandated by article 18 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol,Error: Reference source not found and invites the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, as the central policymaking body of the United Nations system on drug-related matters, to strengthen the capacity of the Office to collect, analyse, use and disseminate accurate, reliable, objective and comparable data and to reflect such information in the World Drug Report;

Encourages the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue its efforts in supporting States to establish, upon request, operational frameworks essential for communication within and across national borders and in facilitating the exchange of information on and analysis of drug trafficking trends, with a view to increasing knowledge about the world drug problem at the national, regional and international levels, recognizes the importance of integrating laboratories and providing scientific support to drug control frameworks and of treating quality analytical data as a primary source of information worldwide, and urges coordination with other international entities, including the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL);

Urges all Member States to provide the fullest possible financial and political support to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime by widening its donor base and increasing voluntary contributions, in particular general-purpose contributions, so as to enable it to continue, expand, improve and strengthen, within its mandates, its operational and technical cooperation activities, including with a view to assisting Member States with the full implementation of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem, adopted by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at the high-level segment of its fifty-second session and subsequently adopted by the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, as well as with the full implementation of relevant resolutions adopted by the Commission;

Expresses concern regarding the overall financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and emphasizes the need to provide the Office with adequate, predictable and stable resources and to ensure their cost-effective utilization, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to report, within existing reporting obligations, on the financial situation of the Office and to continue to ensure that the Office has sufficient resources to carry out its mandates fully and effectively;

Takes note of Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 56/11 of 15 March 2013Error: Reference source not found on the recommendations of the standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and encourages Member States and the Office to continue addressing the issues within the mandate of the working group in a pragmatic, results-oriented, efficient and cooperative manner;

Encourages the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, as the principal policymaking organ of the United Nations on matters of international drug control and as the governing body of the drug programme of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the International Narcotics Control Board to strengthen their useful work on the control of precursors and other chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and, in accordance with Commission resolution 54/8 of 25 March 2011,Error: Reference source not found urges the Board to further strengthen communication with Member States and to work with them in identifying opportunities for more effective control and monitoring of the trade in precursor chemicals frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;

Urges States that have not done so to consider ratifying or acceding to, and States parties to implement, as a matter of priority, all the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971,Error: Reference source not found the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto²¹ and the United Nations Convention against Corruption;²²

²¹United Nations, Treaty Series, vols. 2225, 2237, 2241 and 2326, No. 39574.

²²Ibid., vol. 2349, No. 42146.

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue to provide, in close collaboration with the International Narcotics Control Board, as may be appropriate, adequate support and technical assistance to Governments, inter alia, in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, and Oceania, so as to enable them to implement and fully meet their obligations under conventions and give adequate follow-up to subsequent resolutions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly, including for the strengthening of regulatory authorities and controls, provision of information and fulfilment of reporting requirements, and urges donors to contribute to the Office for those purposes;

Takes note of the resolutions adopted by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its fifty-sixth session,14 the World Drug Report 2013 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the most recent report of the International Narcotics Control Board,²³ and calls upon Member States to strengthen international and regional cooperation and coordination to counter the threat to the international community caused by the illicit production of and trafficking in drugs, especially those in the opium group, as well as other aspects of the world drug problem, and to continue to take concerted measures within the framework of the Paris Pact²⁴ and other relevant regional and international initiatives and mechanisms, such as the “Heart of Asia” initiative, in order to strengthen cross-border cooperation and information exchange with a view to countering drug trafficking with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

²³International Narcotics Control Board, document E/INCB/2012/1.

²⁴See S/2003/641, annex.

Urges Member States to continue to actively cooperate with the International Narcotics Control Board in the exercise of its mandate, and emphasizes the need to ensure that an appropriate level of resources is made available to the Board to enable it to engage with Governments to effectively monitor compliance by States parties with the drug control conventions;

Emphasizes the important role played by civil society, in particular non-governmental organizations, in addressing the world drug problem, notes with appreciation their important contribution to the review process, and also notes that representatives of affected populations and civil society entities, where appropriate, should be enabled to play a participatory role in the formulation and implementation of drug demand and supply reduction policy;

Encourages Member States to ensure that civil society plays a participatory role, where appropriate, through consultation in the development and implementation of drug control programmes and policies, in particular with regard to aspects of demand reduction;

Encourages the meetings of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies and of the Subcommission on Illicit Drug Traffic and Related Matters in the Near and Middle East of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to continue to contribute to the strengthening of regional and international cooperation, and in this regard acknowledges the discussions conducted at the twenty-third meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa, held in Addis Ababa from 16 to 20 September 2013, the twenty-third meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Quito from 30 September to 4 October 2013, the tenth meeting for Europe, held in Vienna from 2 to 5 July 2013, and the thirty-seventh meeting for Asia and the Pacific, held in Bangkok from 21 to 24 October 2013;

Welcomes the ongoing efforts to strengthen cooperation in combating illicit trafficking in drugs, addressing supply, demand and the diversion of precursor chemicals undertaken by regional organizations and transregional initiatives such as the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Triangular Initiative, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Group on Combating Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and other relevant subregional and regional organizations and initiatives, including the counter-narcotics strategy of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for the period 2011–2016, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States, the European pacts to combat international drug trafficking and against synthetic drugs, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Senior Officials on Drug Matters workplan to combat illicit drug production, trafficking and use (2009–2015), with the aim of achieving a drug-free South-East Asia by 2015, and the South American Council on the World Drug Problem of the Union of South American Nations, as well as the recent intensification of partnering between the States members of the Caribbean Community, the Dominican Republic and the United States of America within the framework of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, which aims, inter alia, to substantially reduce illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, the Accra Declaration, adopted at the twenty-second meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa, held in Accra from 25 to 29 June 2012, and the thirtieth International Drug Enforcement Conference, held in Moscow from 5 to 7 June 2013;

Invites Member States, in close consultation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, donors and other relevant international organizations, to continue assisting African States in addressing health problems and raising awareness of the dangers associated with the abuse of all drugs, in accordance with Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolutions 54/14 of 25 March 2011Error: Reference source not found and 55/9 of 16 March 2012,²⁵ and in this regard welcomes the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the African Union Commission, in which the two organizations agreed to work together to enhance the complementarities of their activities;

²⁵See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2012, Supplement No. 8 (E/2012/28), chap. I, sect. B.

Calls upon the relevant United Nations agencies and entities and other international organizations, and invites international financial institutions, including regional development banks, to mainstream drug control issues into their programmes, and calls upon the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to maintain its leading role by providing relevant information and technical assistance;

Welcomes Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 56/12 of 15 March 2013Error: Reference source not found on the preparations for the high-level review of the implementation by Member States of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem, which is to be held during the fifty-seventh session of the Commission, in 2014;

Invites Member States and observers to participate actively at the appropriate level in the high-level review, noting that the outcome of the high-level review shall be submitted through the Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly, in view of the special session of the Assembly on the world drug problem to be held in 2016;

Requests the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, as the United Nations organ with prime responsibility for drug control matters, to engage in the preparatory process for the special session, including by presenting proposals from the fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth sessions of the Commission through the Economic and Social Council in support of the preparatory process, including progress made in the implementation of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem, to be considered by the General Assembly starting at its sixty-ninth session;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General,²⁶ and requests that he submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution.

²⁶A/68/126.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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