OSCE Secretary General briefs 60th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier briefed the 60^th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on 14 March 2017 in Vienna, highlighting the OSCE’s activities in tackling the world drug problem.  

The CND session, from 13 to 17 March 2017, took stock of the first year of implementing the outcome document of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem. The document was adopted last April in New York.

In his statement Zannier briefed the CND on how the OSCE tailors the support to its participating States and Partners for Co-operation in implementing the UNGASS outcome document as well as the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Co-operation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem.

Based on the cross-dimensional approach to security, the OSCE has joined efforts with many partner organizations – first and foremost the UN – to address the world drug problem. The Joint Action Plan of the OSCE and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) functions as a key tool for co-operation, said Zannier.

The Secretary General outlined plans to further focus the OSCE‘s drug-related activities on combating new psychoactive substances, training Afghan law enforcement bodies in countering the flow of illicit opiates, and supporting the activities of the Paris Pact, an international coalition against trafficking of Afghan narcotics. He also discussed how to build the capacity of the OSCE’s Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation in counter-narcotics, given that current migratory flows are being exploited for smuggling illicit drugs into Europe.