Geneva Drug Policy Week

Geneva is now occupying a new place in the international debate on drugs. The Drug Policy Week aims to connect relevant international and local actors with each other and to promote new synergies between them. Come take advantage of this unique opportunity to discuss, debate and share experiences with:

• A dozen meetings made up of conferences, debates, film screenings and visits offered free of charge and open to the general public;
• A multi-site organisation throughout Geneva, in English and French;
• Many different topics such as confl icts, access to medicines, gender, health, human rights and the sustainable development goals.

The 2019 Commission on Narcotic Drugs’ Ministerial Segment: what does it mean for civil society advocacy? | Event page

WHERE: Uni Mail | Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve 40, Geneva, Switzerland
WHEN: Thursday, 27 June 2019 from 13:00-14:30 UTC+02

In March 2019, UN member states gathered in Vienna for a Ministerial Segment at the 62nd Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). The event aimed to take stock of the past decade of drug policy, since the adoption of the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on drugs, and look to the future for the next ten years of UN drug control.
The high-level event resulted in a Ministerial Declaration that provides a general framework for UN drug policy between 2019 and 2029. Both this Declaration, and the UN System Common Position on global drug policy adopted in November 2018, have important implications for the future civil society advocacy in Vienna and Geneva, as well as at country level.
This event will analyse the key wins and challenges of the Ministerial Segment and its Declaration, and discuss the implications of this and other key UN high-level documents on drug policy for civil society advocacy towards Geneva-based UN entities/processes, in particular the World Health Organization, the UN Human Rights Council (including its Universal Periodic Review process and Special Procedures) and key human rights treaty bodies. Speakers will include:

• Ann Fordham, Executive Director, International Drug Policy Consortium
• Khalid Tinasti, Executive Secretary, Global Commission on Drug Policy & Researcher at GSI at the University of Geneva
• Giada Girelli, Human Rights Analyst, Harm Reduction International
• Luciana Pol, Senior Fellow Security Policy and Human Rights, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales
• Judy Chang, Executive Director, International Network of People Who Use Drugs
Chair: Zaved Mahmood, Advisor on Human Rights and Drug Policy, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights