Preparations for the 62nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2019

E/DEC/2017/241View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Decision of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 19d Narcotic drugs, published in 2017.

What’s in this document?

39 paragraphs

At its 40th plenary meeting, on 6 July 2017, the Economic and Social Council, taking note of resolution 60/1 of 17 March 2017 adopted by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its sixtieth session, held in Vienna from 13 to 17 March 2017, which is annexed to the present decision, approved the preparations for the sixty-second session of the Commission, to be held in 2019, as set out in the resolution.

Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 60/1

Preparations for the sixty-second session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2019

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs,

Reaffirming the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem,39 including the decision to establish 2019 as a target date for the goals set in paragraph 36 of the Political Declaration,

Reaffirming also the Joint Ministerial Statement of the 2014 high-level review by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of the implementation by Member States of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action,40

Recalling General Assembly resolution 67/193 of 20 December 2012, in which the Assembly decided to convene, in early 2016, a special session on the world drug problem to review the progress made in the implementation of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action, including an assessment of the achievements and challenges in countering the world drug problem, within the framework of the three international drug control conventions and other relevant United Nations instruments,

Reaffirming the outcome document of the thirtieth special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem, entitled “Our joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem”,41 adopted by the General Assembly in its entirety, reiterating the commitments and operational recommendations contained therein, and noting that, in the outcome document, Member States resolved to take the steps necessary to implement the operational recommendations, in close partnership with the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations and civil society, and to share with the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, as the policymaking body of the United Nations with prime responsibility for drug control matters, timely information on progress made in the implementation of those recommendations,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 70/299 of 29 July 2016, in which the Assembly encouraged coherence of the General Assembly and its Main Committees, the Economic and Social Council, the specialized agencies and the functional commissions of the Council, and other intergovernmental bodies and forums with the work of the high-level political forum on sustainable development towards the follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,

Recalling further General Assembly resolution 71/211 of 19 December 2016, in which the Assembly welcomed the commencement of the follow-up to the implementation of the recommendations set out in the outcome document of its thirtieth special session through the intersessional process of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and encouraged

38 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2016, Supplement No. 8A (E/2016/28/Add.1).

39 Ibid., 2009, Supplement No. 8 (E/2009/28), chap. I, sect. C.

40 Ibid., 2014, Supplement No. 8 (E/2014/28), chap. I, sect. C.

41 General Assembly resolution S-30/1, annex.

the Commission to continue working on, and supporting Member States in, the implementation and sharing of best practices corresponding to the seven thematic areas of the outcome document,

Recalling Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 53/16 of 2 December 2010,42 in which the Commission requested the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to prepare and submit to the Commission on a biennial basis, on the basis of the responses provided by Member States to the annual report questionnaire, a single report on action taken to implement the Political Declaration and Plan of Action, the first of which was to be examined by the Commission at its fifty-fifth session, in 2012,

Recalling also Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 56/10 of 15 March 2013,43 in which the Commission requested the meetings of its subsidiary bodies to contribute to the monitoring of the implementation by Member States of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action at the regional level by discussing regional views and progress made in that regard, and recalling further the invitation set out in General Assembly resolution 71/211 for the Commission to examine how its subsidiary bodies could better contribute to the implementation of the outcome document of the thirtieth special session of the General Assembly,

Welcoming the important role played by civil society, in particular non-governmental organizations, in addressing the world drug problem, and stressing the relevance of the contributions by civil society and academia to the work of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs,

Taking note of the first, second and third reports of the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on action taken by Member States to implement the Political Declaration and Plan of Action,44

Conscious of its role as the policymaking body of the United Nations with prime responsibility for drug control matters,

Emphasizes that the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem,39 the Joint Ministerial Statement of the 2014 high-level review by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of the implementation by Member States of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action40 and the outcome document of the thirtieth special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem, entitled “Our joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem”,41 represent the commitments made by the international community over the preceding decade to addressing and countering, in a balanced manner, the world drug problem, and recognizes that those documents are complementary and mutually reinforcing;

Reaffirms its commitment to implementing effectively the provisions set out in the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action and in the Joint Ministerial Statement;

Recognizes the special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem held in 2016 as a milestone in the efforts of the international community to effectively address and counter the world drug problem;

Reaffirms its commitment to implementing effectively the outcome document of the special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem held in 2016, which thus represents the most recent consensus;

Decides, in accordance with a balanced, integrated and comprehensive approach, to continue to hold intersessional meetings to further work on, and support Member States in, the implementation of the outcome document of the special session on the world drug problem and the sharing of best practices corresponding to the seven thematic areas of the outcome document, and to continue to conduct that follow-up process in an inclusive, transparent and comprehensive manner, making use of tools to enhance remote participation, with equal attention paid to all thematic areas and benefiting from the expertise of all relevant stakeholders, recognizing that the implementation of the outcome document contributes to the implementation of the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action and of the 2014 Joint Ministerial Statement;

42 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2010, Supplement No. 8A (E/2010/28/Add.1), chap. I.

43 Ibid., 2013, Supplement No. 8 (E/2013/28), chap. I, sect. C.

44 E/CN.7/2012/14, E/CN.7/2012/14/Corr.1, E/CN.7/2014/7 and E/CN.7/2016/6.

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in close cooperation with Member States and pertinent United Nations entities, intergovernmental and regional organizations and, when appropriate, the scientific community and civil society, to continue to support Member States, upon request, in strengthening their capacity to develop their reporting mechanisms, including by identifying gaps in the current drug statistics and by exploring possibilities to strengthen existing data-collection and analysis tools at the national level;

Invites the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in close cooperation with Member States, to reflect on possibilities to strengthen and streamline its existing data-collection and analysis tools, including improving the quality and effectiveness of the annual report questionnaire, and to report to the Commission on possible ways to enhance these, for consideration by the Commission at its sixty-second session, and invites Member States to provide extrabudgetary resources for these purposes;

Encourages the contributions of relevant United Nations entities, international financial institutions and relevant regional organizations, within their respective mandates, to the work of the Commission and the efforts of Member States to address and counter the world drug problem, and to strengthening international and inter-agency cooperation, and also encourages them to make available relevant information to the Commission in order to facilitate its work and to enhance coherence within the United Nations system at all levels with regard to the world drug problem;

Decides to continue to facilitate, in an inclusive manner, the active participation of civil society, including the scientific community and academia, in the work of the Commission, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council and with the established practice of the Commission;

Also decides to convene a ministerial segment open to all States Members of the United Nations and interested stakeholders, to be held during its sixty-second session, in Vienna in 2019, which is to last two days in addition to the five days scheduled for the regular session of the Commission, held in the first half of the year, to take stock of the implementation of the commitments made to jointly address and counter the world drug problem, in particular in the light of the 2019 target date;

Reiterates that the efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals45 and to effectively address and counter the world drug problem are complementary and mutually reinforcing, underlines that the Commission on Narcotic Drugs should contribute to the global follow-up and support the thematic review of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals related to its mandate, and in this regard decides to continue to provide input to the high-level political forum on sustainable development, including by providing relevant data, as implementation of the recommendations contained in the outcome document of the thirtieth special session of the General Assembly may contribute to the attainment of the related Sustainable Development Goals;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as the leading entity in the United Nations system for addressing and countering the world drug problem, to enhance, subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources, technical assistance in consultation with requesting Member States and in cooperation with other relevant United Nations entities and stakeholders;

Also requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to provide enhanced technical and substantive support to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in conducting follow-up to the special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem held in 2016 and in preparing for the sixty-second session of the Commission, to be held in 2019;

Reiterates its call upon Member States to submit, in a timely manner and no later than 30 June 2017, their replies to the annual report questionnaire for the preparation of the fourth report of the Executive Director on action taken by Member States to implement the Political Declaration and Plan of Action, to be considered by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its sixty-first session, to be held in 2018;

Decides that the preparations for the ministerial segment of its sixty-second session, to be held in 2019, will be continued during its sixty-first session, to be held in 2018, including at its intersessional meetings.

45 See General Assembly resolution 70/1.

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