VIENNA, Austria – July 2019: The UNODC Laboratory is celebrating its 40-year anniversary at the UN Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. For this occasion, the laboratory had been refurbished and was inaugurated on 3 July 2019 by UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov. The UNODC Laboratory provides state-of-the-art scientific and forensic services to almost 300 laboratories in 80 countries and supports Member States in advancing health and justice responses to drug challenges and emerging threats, such as new psychoactive substances. Moreover, the Laboratory and Scientific Section has provided thousands of field test kits to Member States to safely handle and identify drugs even in the most remote locations around the world.

Justice Tettey, Chief of the Laboratory and Scientific Section, noted that through the laboratory, UNODC "has not only restored the vision of the General Assembly in supporting countries to deal with the drug problem, but gone further in helping to identify emerging threats and support countries in a timely manner to reduce the negative impact of these threats in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."



Photos: UNODC.

For more information, please see:

UNODC Video on official opening

UNODC Webstory: Executive Director officially opens revamped UNODC Laboratory

UNODC Laboratory and Scientific Section