"Beyond 2008" Global NGO Forum

7-9 July 2008           

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"Beyond 2008" is an international NGO initiative led by the Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs, in partnership with UNODC, with the support of the European Commission and other donors.  It focuses its deliberations on three key objectives:  

 

1. To highlight, through an NGO Questionnaire that has been posted online in all six official UN languages, tangible NGO achievements in the field of drug control with particular emphasis on contributions to the 1998 UNGASS Action Plan such as achievement in policy, community engagement, prevention, treatment, rehabiitation and social integration;    

2. To review best practices related to collaborative mechanisms among NGOs, governments and UN agencies in various fields, and to propose new and/or improved ways of working with the UNODC and the CND;

3. To identify key principles within the international drug conventions and highlight how those principles affect the way drug policy is applied locally from day to day; and then adopt a series of high order principles, drawn from the Convention and their commentaries. These will be tabled with the UNODC and CND for their consideration and serve as a guide for future deliberations on drug policy.

Nine regional consultations were held to elicit the experience and ideas of a representative sample of NGOs in North Africa and the Middle East, Sub Saharan Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America, South Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and Western Europe. The work of these consultations will culminate with the "Beyond 2008" Global Forum scheduled to take place in Vienna, Austria from 7-9 July 2008, when Civil Society Organizations from around the world will finalize the 10-year review of the 1998 UNGASS goals, and make recommendations to the 2009 High Level Segment of the 52nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on how to make further progress with the world's drug problems.

"Beyond 2008" represents a focused and serious effort to provide the CND with unique and forward-looking recommendations from NGOs across the globe who see the UNGASS review as a critically important point in global drug policy stewardship. The initial results of more than 450 completed questionnaires were combined with the findings of the regional consultations and presented in a conference room paper that was distributed at the 51st session of the CND in March 2008.  For more on "Beyond 2008", please download this informational leaflet (pdf), which includes basic information in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.  Please feel free to disseminate it to other interested parties.

Launching of the "Beyond   2008" project

The NGO forum that took place on 13 March 2007 during the 50th session of the CND marked the start of this project undertaken by the Vienna NGO Committee in partnership with UNODC. The project aims at providing a voice to the  NGO community in reflecting on its own achievements at the ten-year review of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Illicit Drugs (UNGASS).

Eighteen lead NGOs representing six regions--North Africa and the Middle East, Sub Saharan Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean--presented their work on drugs in their respective region. 

"Civil Society does not speak with one voice but it certainly constitutes one of the most integral partners in improving the health and the well-being of individuals across the globe. There are many points of consensus among us and it is our intention to mine those for the benefit of all," said Michel Perron, Chief Executive of the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, who is leading this initiative on behalf of the Vienna NGO Committee.

The Executive Director of UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, opened the forum. In his closing remarks to CND delegates, he said: "I was particularly impressed by this year's NGO forum. There was lively debate, in a balanced way that enabled all viewpoints to be expressed. Representations from all five continents made it a truly global event ... We should increase interaction between governmental and non-governmental bodies so that your policies can be implemented on the ground with greater impact." 

UNODC strengthens collaboration with NGOs in drug control 

A Memorandum of Understanding signed by UNODC and the Vienna NGO Committee on 5 February 2007 acknowledges the key role   of NGOs in effective drug control.  

The funding from the European Commission, Canada, Hungary, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom enables NGOs from developing countries to take part in "Beyond 2008", and thereby contribute to UNODC's drug control efforts.