Director General/Executive Director
Dear Paris Pact partners,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have the great pleasure of welcoming you to this Policy Consultative Group Meeting.
Allow me to begin by thanking the Paris Pact partners for your commitment, especially in support of the Consultative Mechanism.
The Paris Pact Initiative represents one of the most important international platforms to fight illicit drugs flowing from Afghanistan.
Since its inception, the Initiative has evolved from a focus on Afghanistan to a continuously growing partnership that today consists of 58 countries and 22 organization partners committed to implementing strategic global responses to shifts along major opiate trafficking routes.
The Consultative Mechanism is the result of participating partners undertaking responsibility for the implementation of recommendations, outcomes and priorities.
Thanks to your full and continuous support, we can look back on more than a decade of joint efforts under this framework.
Today's meeting is the 2nd policy-level meeting of the 4th phase, which was launched in 2013, and follows the roadmap provided by the Vienna Declaration, which recognizes "…that the narcotics problem is a global challenge, which also requires a global response, including [through] addressing the demand and supply sides".
This partnership further recognizes that capacities to act are uneven, and emphasizes the principle of shared responsibility, as embedded in UN conventions and UN Security Council Resolutions.
UNODC's support for the implementation of the Vienna Declaration offers global, inter-regional and cross-cutting coverage, as embodied in our Inter-Regional Drug Control Approach, which serves to connect all ongoing UNODC programmes that address the opiate trade originating in Afghanistan.
We have established a series of integrated initiatives focusing on building international, regional and local partnerships based on the principle of delivering as 'One UN'.
This includes the new UNODC Global Programme on Building Effective Networks Against Transnational Organized Crime, which will be presented to Member States later today.
Several of these initiatives will also be showcased over the coming two days.
They build upon existing national capacities and expertise, while working to improve cooperation at a regional and international level.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The decision lies with you to take action and to take this partnership forward.
One of the principle goals of this Policy meeting is to define our common priorities for the next years.
Your political will and financial support are needed if we are to succeed.
This is a pivotal time for the international community, with the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem taking place in just a few months' time.
These developments can serve as an additional impetus to synchronize Paris Pact priorities and partner concerns, as part of "a comprehensive approach to peace, stability and development in Afghanistan, the region and beyond", as emphasized in UNSCR 2210.
Allow me to conclude by reiterating the Chair's conclusions from yesterday's High-level Meeting of Partners for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries.
These stressed the need to promote bilateral, regional and international cooperation to address the threat posed by the illicit production and trafficking of drugs - goals that are fundamentally intertwined with the objectives and priorities of the Paris Pact.
I would also like to thank the Paris Pact Coordination Unit for their instrumental role in supporting the partnership and making our meetings possible.
Most importantly, I would like to take the opportunity to thank those partners who have financially contributed to the current Phase Four, including Austria, France, India, Norway, the Russian Federation, Turkey, the UK and the US.
We welcome other partners and I hope you will consider translating your strong political backing into financial support for future activities of the Paris Pact. Thank you, and I wish you a productive meeting.