Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour to welcome you to this event, with such distinguished participants discussing the very important topic of alternative development.
The international community has firmly recognized the importance of alternative development as a fundamental pillar of balanced drug control, enabling livelihoods away from illicit drug cultivation, in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.
I would like to commend the commitment of Colombia, Germany and Thailand to promoting alternative development cooperation, and sharing the knowledge, experience and best practices needed to ensure effective implementation.
In addition to our country and regional programmes, last year UNODC launched a new Global Programme on Alternative Development and Sustainable Livelihoods, which is supporting governments to design and implement initiatives in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Alternative Development.
I am pleased to say that we are partnering closely with Thailand's Mae Fah Luang Foundation and the Royal Project Foundation, as well as with a number of German ministries, in this work.
Decades of experience have made clear that in order to succeed, alternative development requires sustained resources and political will, patience and a security situation conducive to such a long-term process.
With this in mind, I would like to say that UNODC is proud to be supporting the peace process in Colombia through a new comprehensive alternative development project. In fact, it is the largest bilateral project in UNODC history.
It aims to strengthen the government's capacities to implement rural development strategies and alternative livelihoods, and to monitor illicit crops reduction within the peacebuilding framework.
Just last month, I had the opportunity in Bogota to meet with Nobel Prize winner and President Juan Manuel Santos and members of the Colombian government to reaffirm UNODC's support for this ambitious process.
I also saw some of the results of our work to promote alternative development on a field visit to Meta. It was an excellent chance to meet local community leaders, and witness how projects like these are having an impact, changing mindsets and enabling farmers to invest in a drug-free future for themselves and their families.
UNODC is also working to promote alternative development in Afghanistan through capacity building in growing pistachio, saffron and other crops, carpet weaving and other activities, with an emphasis on women's economic empowerment.
To support this we are also helping to promote cross-border trade and technical linkages, including through conferences with the participation of experts from both Colombia and Thailand.
In Myanmar's Shan state, the "Green Gold" coffee cooperative supported by UNODC recently achieved a major milestone, with an agreement with a big French company for the purchase of all coffee exports until 2022.
In Lao PDR, farmers from the Houaphanh province are also in the process of moving from opium to coffee cultivation, with UNODC assistance.
In Southeast Asia, the Action Plan of the Mekong MoU on Drug Control has helped to adapt the UN Guiding Principles on Alternative Development to the sub-regional context.
Here again, Thailand's support and experience has been essential, showing that alternative development success is dependent on initiatives being well integrated in national and regional development strategies and plans.
Ladies and gentlemen,
UNODC remains committed to supporting you in all these efforts.
I would like to thank you for your continued engagement and dedication to ensuring that alternative development can work for those who need it, and that communities everywhere can live lives free from illicit drugs and crime.
Thank you.