Director-General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am very pleased to be opening this event on UNODC’s CHAMPS initiative, and I want to welcome you and thank you for being with us today.
CHAMPS focuses on a topic that is very dear to my heart, and that is critical to addressing the world drug problem.
It is also a topic that remains neglected in global drug responses, particularly when it comes to investment of resources in prevention.
Drug prevention in children is an urgent necessity, a moral imperative, and perhaps most importantly, a sound and future-proof investment.
Investing in evidence-based prevention is not only effective in reducing drug use and other risky behaviours, it is also highly cost-effective.
Research shows that for every dollar spent on prevention, there is an estimated return of ten dollars in long-term savings.
These savings come from reduced healthcare costs, lower criminal justice expenditures, and increased productivity in society.
By prioritizing prevention, we are protecting people, and especially our precious young people. And we are also making a strategic investment in public health, safety, and sustainable development.
We will only see these results, however, with the implementation of holistic and coherent prevention frameworks.
Prevention is most effective when approached as a system, where multiple evidence-based interventions are implemented together, complementing each-other.
This means different stakeholders working together across sectors.
For example, when families and the social sector work together with teachers and the education system, the impact is greater than if they acted separately.
The science shows that cross-sectoral prevention efforts do not simply add up, they multiply in impact.
And this is the thinking behind CHAMPS – it aims to break silos and promote cross-sector collaboration in drug prevention, aligned with international standards.
I am very proud that six countries have already formally joined our initiative so far: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, and Uzbekistan.
I am grateful for their partnership and their trust in our approach, and their experience will also inform and improve the CHAMPS framework going forward.
We expect many more countries to follow, I know we have many countries finalizing their agreements, and I am hopeful that we will continue to break into new countries and regions.
Excellencies,
Our children represent our greatest vulnerability and our greatest hopes.
To protect them, prevention is our first line of defence.
Countries should commit to evidence-based prevention and reassess practices, strategies, systems, policies and legislation.
They should also strengthen national monitoring and evaluation systems, to demonstrate that prevention works and saves money.
And they must allocate far more resources in prevention.
Furthermore, Member States should work together to promote a culture of prevention and advocate for evidence-based prevention in line with international standards.
I’m encouraged that Member States have put forward a resolution at this year’s CND on promoting comprehensive, evidence-based, and multisectoral national systems of drug use prevention for children.
This is exactly what CHAMPS is calling for.
Crucially, greater efforts are needed to bring the private sector to the table and leverage their reach and resources, and I know that we will find many committed partners in the private sector.
With your support, CHAMPS can act as a vehicle for all of these aspirations and more, and I can assure you of UNODC’s full commitment to elevating prevention efforts worldwide.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Last year, at the CND, I pledged that UNODC would promote a paradigm shift towards a greater focus and investment in prevention.
CHAMPS is a key part of that pledge, and our work with you through this initiative is crucial as we strive towards a global culture of prevention.
Together, we can elevate prevention and create a safer, healthier future for children around the world.
Thank you.
