Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
My congratulations to you all at the conclusion of the 61 st session of the CND.
The world has gathered here in Vienna to discuss and seek solutions to the many and multi-faceted challenges posed by drugs.
Important resolutions have been agreed to further advance these efforts, and UNODC remains fully engaged in supporting you.
Our Office also relies on you to provide the necessary resources so we can carry out the work you have entrusted to us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Consensus is the shared conviction that working together, we can solve common problems.
This is true whether we are talking about ensuring access to pain-relieving medicines, stopping organized crime and trafficking, enabling alternative development or ensuring evidence-based treatment and support.
It is a great strength of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs that it has been able to build, and continue building on, a hard-won consensus to address the complex challenges posed by drugs, with the international conventions as our foundation and the Sustainable Development Goals as our objective.
From the 2009 political declaration and plan of action, to the 2016 UNGASS, and now as we work towards the 2019 ministerial segment: as the Secretary-General has said, we have the chance to chart a balanced path for decades to come.
UNODC is here to help you turn commitments into effective action on the ground, and to continue coordinating comprehensive UN strategic support on drug challenges.
In closing, allow me to congratulate the Chair and Bureau.
I thank my colleagues from the Secretariat, as well as colleagues from conference services, security, protocol and all other sections who have contributed to the work this week.
For those of you travelling after the conclusion of this session, I wish you a safe journey home.
Thank you.