Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies
Distinguished participants,
I thank the OSCE Chairmanship of Italy and OSCE Secretary General Greminger for inviting me to address this conference.
The OSCE is an important regional partner for UNODC, including to promote cooperative, coordinated and balanced action to address the world drug problem.
UNODC just launched the 2018 World Drug Report at the end of June.
As every year, the report provides a comprehensive overview of drug supply and demand challenges. The findings of the 2018 report are highly concerning, with cocaine and opium production at absolute record highs.
As I briefed the UN Security Council on Afghanistan at the end of June, opium poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan have pushed up total global opium production, which increased sixty-five per cent last year.
That is the highest level ever recorded by UNODC.
I am sure you are all aware of the multiple challenges to comprehensive security posed by this situation to OSCE participating States, to partner countries and beyond.
Moreover, the international community is dealing with a range of threats as drug markets expand.
We are increasingly seeing substances of unclear origin, moved through illicit channels, sold as medicine and destined for non-medical use.
New psychoactive substances continue to proliferate, and amphetamines are also increasing outside of their usual markets.
Non-medical use of prescription drugs has reached epidemic proportions in parts of the world, as we have seen with the opioid crisis in North America.
UNODC is working with our partners on many fronts to support countries to address these challenges through balanced, health-centred and human rights-based approaches, in line with the international drug control conventions and other international commitments, including those of the outcome document of the 2016 UN General Assembly special session, the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action and the Sustainable Development Goals.
This includes advancing international standards on drug use prevention and treatment, as well as international standards to address HIV, viral hepatitis and other blood-borne infections among people who use drugs, including in prisons.
To help countries cope with the global opioid crisis, UNODC has launched its new integrated and multidisciplinary platform to further step up our support, including through early warning systems.
At the same time, we are promoting alternative development to support livelihoods free from illicit cultivation of coca and opium poppy.
In Afghanistan, this is part of our integrated, inter-regional strategy to address the challenges of drugs, crime, corruption and terrorism.
Regional, inter-regional and global cooperation are clearly necessary to counter these threats.
That also requires the UN and partners to harmonize support to promote synergies, and enable efficient and effective responses.
UNODC has been tasked by the Secretary General to coordinate UN system support for implementation of the UNGASS outcome document, ahead of the planned ministerial segment at next year's session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna in March.
I am grateful that our Office can rely on our long-standing partnership with the OSCE in this very important region.
The UNODC-OSCE joint action plan has enabled us to leverage our respective strengths, including to strengthen national law enforcement capacities to counter organized crime and drug trafficking.
The joint action plan underpins our efforts to enhance security and governance sector reform, as well as strengthen regional cooperation in South-eastern Europe and Central Asia to tackle illicit drug trafficking and trafficking of precursors.
Furthermore, UNODC, the OCSE and other partners are developing a network of law enforcement training institutions, LE TrainNet, to promote the sharing of tools and materials, as well as advance training methodologies and best practices.
I welcome this conference, which brings together a broad range of stakeholders from the OSCE area to discuss how we can further strengthen balanced drug control policies.
UNODC is here to support you in these efforts.
I thank you once again, and I wish you fruitful discussions.
Thank you.