Yearbook of the United Nations, 2005. Part 3, Economic and social questions. Chapter 14, International drug control

Abstract

The United Nations continued in 2005 to strengthen international cooperation in countering the world drug problem, mainly through the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The UN system's drug control activities focused on carrying out the 1999 Action Plan for the Implementation of the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction. UNODC coordinated the drug control activities of UN organizations and provided technical expertise to Member States. As the custodian of international conventions to counter the world drug problem, it assisted States in complying with those conventions and supported INCB in monitoring their implementation. States and the international community were assisted in improving data collection and analysis. UNODC also contributed to a strengthened international drug control system through its integrated portfolio of global programmes and regional and country projects. In addition, support was provided for the design and implementation of alternative development programmes and projects in all regions where illicit drugs were cultivated. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs—the main UN drug control policy-making body— recommended a number of draft resolutions to the Economic and Social Council and adopted resolutions on the follow-up to the General Assembly's twentieth (1998) special session on countering the world drug problem, implementation of the international drug control treaties, demand reduction and the prevention of drug abuse, alternative development, illicit drug trafficking and supply, administrative and budgetary matters and strengthening UN machinery for international drug control. In July, the Council urged Governments to continue to contribute to maintaining a balance between the licit supply of and demand for opiate raw materials for medical and scientific needs, to prevent their illicit production or diversion and to remove barriers to the medical use of opioid analgesics. It encouraged the development, implementation and strengthening of measures for the prevention and suppression of illicit drug trafficking and to promote demand reduction in transit States. The Council called on the international community to support Afghanistan's counter-narcotics objectives and requested UNODC to ensure that multilateral support was provided. That call was echoed by the Assembly in December. Also in December, the Assembly adopted an omnibus resolution on international cooperation against the world drug problem that addressed data collection and research; community capacity-building; demand reduction; illicit synthetic drugs; control of substances; judicial cooperation; countering money-laundering; and illicit crop eradication and alternative development. INCB reviewed the implementation of alternative development programmes, highlighting best practices and models for increasing their effectiveness. It continued to oversee the implementation of the three major international drug control conventions, analyse the drug situation worldwide and draw the attention of Governments to weaknesses in national control and treaty compliance, making suggestions and recommendations for improvements at the national and international levels.