International - 10 year review of UNGASS on Drugs 1998

[Lunar Loops]

The Trans National Institute has launched a new website (http://www.ungassondrugs.org/) to look at the ten year review of the implementation of the political declaration and action plans of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs in 1998.

Starting in March 2008 the international community will evaluate the implementation of the political declaration and action plans of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs in 1998. A year long ‘period of global reflection’ will lead up to a Ministerial Segment at the CND in March 2009. What are the procedural aspects that still require clarification? What space will there be for civil society to participate in the different stages of the process? What will be the key issues on the table? What kind of improvements in the functioning of the UN drug control system could be expected or aimed at? Is a reform of the UN Drug Conventions needed?

TNI have a Drugs & Democracy programme which in their own words:

"The TNI Drugs & Democracy programme has been analysing since 1996 the trends in the illegal drugs market and in drug policies globally. The programme has gained a reputation worldwide as one of the leading international drug policy research institutes and as a serious critical watchdog on drug control institutions, in particular the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
TNI promotes evidence-based policies guided by the principles of harm reduction, human rights for users and producers, as well as the cultural and traditional uses of substances. The project seeks the reform of the current out-dated UN conventions on drugs, which were inconsistent from the start and have been surpassed by new scientific insights and new pragmatic policies that have proven to be successful.
For the past decade, the programme has maintained its main focus on developments in drug policy and its implication for countries in the South. The strategic objective for the period 2005-2008 is to contribute to a more integrated and coherent policy where illicit drugs are regarded as a cross-cutting issue within the broader development goals of poverty reduction, public health promotion, human rights protection, peace building and good governance."

Note: TNI (again in their own words) was founded in 1974, the Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international network of activist-scholars committed to critical analyses of the global problems of today and tomorrow, with a view to providing intellectual support to those movements concerned to steer the world in a democratic, equitable and environmentally sustainable direction.

In the spirit of public scholarship, and aligned to no political party, TNI seeks to create and promote international co-operation in analysing and finding possible solutions to such global problems as militarism and conflict, poverty and marginalisation, social injustice and environmental degradation. www.tni.org