New INCB President, plus civil society dialogue on illegal financial flows and their impact on development and security

From the 17th to the 28th of May 2021, the INCB held its 131st session in a hybrid format. During this session, the Board elected Ms Jagjit Pavadia (India) as its new President for a term of one year, as well as the members of the Board’s new Bureau (the full details of the new Bureau can be found here).

Ms Pavadia has been a member of the INCB since 2014, and is now at the beginning of her second 5-year term at the Board, which will last until 2025. Prior to that, she held a broad array of positions concerning drug control at the Indian government, and was a member of the Indian delegation to several session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

In one of her first tweets after assuming the presidency, Ms Pavadia stressed that drug control measures must respect human rights – a welcome statement that follows the INCB’s new emphasis on human rights, already assumed by her predecessor, Mr Cornelis de Joncheere.

Drug control measures must respect #HumanRights. #INCB was pleased to meet with Assistant Secretary-General Ilze Brands Kehris to strengthen cooperation on human rights & drug control. The beginning of a dialogue with @UNHumanRights pic.twitter.com/7c6UQMAUdN

— Jagjit Pavadia (@INCB_President) May 27, 2021

One of the last acts of Mr de Joncheere as INCB President was to chair a hearing on ‘illicit financial flows through drug trafficking, and their impact on development and security’, which will be the thematic chapter of the Annual Report for 2021. In the presentation of the event, Mr de Joncheere highlighted the valuable role of NGOs towards the achievement of the aims set out in the three drug control conventions. The full recording of the dialogue can be found in this Vienna NGO Committee webpage.