Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am pleased to address this high-level event on the Paris Pact Initiative.
The Paris Pact offers a valuable and unique global framework for inter-governmental partnership and joint action to counter the global effects and threats stemming from the cultivation, production and trafficking of opiates from Afghanistan.
Unprecedented levels of opium poppy cultivation and opiate production recorded last year pose multiple challenges for the international community as a whole.
This event is therefore a timely opportunity to reaffirm commitment to engage and support efforts to address this situation, building on existing achievements and frameworks, in line with the shared responsibility that is the cornerstone of the Paris Pact partnership.
It is also a chance to hear from the delegation of Afghanistan, who will share with us the steps being taken by the Government, particularly in the areas of interdiction and alternative development.
The relevance of the Paris Pact mechanism is widely recognized, and the facilitation of global dialogue under the Initiative is a technical cooperation activity that has demonstrated results.
The Vienna Declaration adopted by the Paris Pact Ministerial meeting in February 2012 continues to provide an important road map for efforts to strengthen inter-regional connectivity, cooperation and information sharing between countries and organizations.
UNODC is an active contributor to the Paris Pact as a partner supporting the objectives outlined in the Vienna Declaration and through our global programme, which helps to coordinate and support the partnership in realizing agreed goals.
UNODC supports Member States in the development of several national, regional and inter-regional initiatives and programmes.
These efforts are complemented by our three-tier, national, regional and inter-regional approach to tackle illicit drugs and related transnational organized crime.
We are working to further enhance our support to Afghanistan, neighbouring countries and beyond to enable dynamic, flexible responses and operational cooperation that are capable of dealing with evolving challenges posed by new trends, routes and actors.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Paris Pact Initiative has grown into a partnership of 58 countries and 23 organizations committed to joint action to counter the myriad threats posed by illicit opiates and trafficking to global peace, security, health and development.
We have a global political mechanism with the Paris Pact Initiative that can help the international community link into and learn from each other's responses across multiple drug trafficking routes.
UNODC welcomes the engagement of current partners and advocates for the inclusion of additional Member States and organizations under the Paris Pact umbrella to benefit from this knowledge base.
I thank our donors for their continued engagement, and urge all Paris Pact Partners to build on the work accomplished, and commit resources to further strengthening regional and international support.
Allow me to conclude by thanking the delegation of Afghanistan for co-chairing this event.
I am also grateful to the delegations of France, the Russian Federation and the United States for their continued commitment to international cooperation through the Paris Pact Initiative.
Thank you.