An Irish delegation attended the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND)1 in Vienna on 14–22 March 2024. The delegation consisted of:

• Jim Walsh, Brian Dowling and Richie Stafford of the Department of Health
• Lisa Fay of the Department of Justice
• Detective Superintendent Sé McCormack of An Garda Síochána
• Ambassador Eoin O’Leary and officials from the Irish Permanent Representation to the United Nations (UN).

CND meets annually and adopts a range of decisions and resolutions.2 Intersessional meetings are convened throughout the year. Towards the end of each year, CND meets at a reconvened session to consider budgetary and administrative matters as the governing body of the UN drugs programme.

CND reviews and analyses the global drug situation, considering supply and demand reduction, and takes action through resolutions and decisions. Participants at the CND session include national delegations, officials from UN agencies, and civil society.

The CND session is divided into two segments: the High-Level Segment and the Regular Segment.

High-Level Segment
The High-Level Segment, which took place on 14–15 March, was attended by Jim Walsh and Ambassador O’Leary. The segment was tasked with conducting the 2024 Mid-Term Review of the Ministerial Declaration in 2019. The focus of the review was on taking stock of the implementation of all existing international drug policy commitments and the work to accelerate the implementation of the commitments from 2024 to 2029.

The segment also consisted of a General Debate and two multi-stakeholder roundtables on the topics of ‘Taking Stock: Work Undertaken since 2019’ and ‘The Way Forward: The Road to 2029’.

Pledge4Action

Countries attending the segment were invited by the CND chair, Philbert Abaka Johnson, to submit a Pledge4Action. Approximately 66 countries and regions submitted a pledge, including the EU regional delegation.

Ireland submitted a pledge committing the Irish Government to carefully consider and respond with urgency to the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use for reform of the legislative, policy, and operational approach to drug use, and to indicate the timeframe for implementing the recommendations which it accepts. The wording of the pledge is as follows.

Acknowledging the decision of the Irish Parliament to establish a citizens assembly to consider the harmful impacts of illicit drugs on individuals, families, communities and wider society;

Noting the assembly operated according to the principles and mechanisms of deliberative democracy and considered a diverse range of perspectives, including the perspective of people with lived experience of drug use;

The Irish Government commits to carefully consider and respond with urgency to the assembly’s recommendations for reform of the legislative, policy and operational approach to drug use, and to indicate the timeframe for implementing those recommendations which it accepts.

Figure 1: Pledge box at the 67th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Regular Segment
The Regular Segment of the 67th session of CND took place on 18–22 March 2024. It dealt with administrative aspects of CND, along with the implementation of agreed policy positions and enhanced cooperation between member states to counter the world drug problem. Four resolutions were proposed to the Committee of the Whole for adoption by CND:

• L.2 – Commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Alternative Development: effective implementation and future perspectives (sponsored by Thailand, Germany and Peru).
• L.3 – Promoting rehabilitation and recovery management programmes as part of the comprehensive treatment of drug use disorders (sponsored by Chile).
• L.4 – Improving the access to and availability of controlled substances for medical purposes, including for the treatment of children in pain, through the promotion of awareness-raising, training and data collection (sponsored by Belgium).
• L.5 – Preventing and responding to drug overdose through scientific evidence-based prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery support services in accordance with domestic law and circumstances (sponsored by USA).

In keeping with the ‘Vienna spirit’, three of the proposed resolutions were adopted by consensus. However, L.5 proved to be more contentious, with a small number of nations opposing the inclusion of the phrase ‘harm reduction’. This resolution was passed to the Plenary, where it was voted on among CND members and passed by a majority (38 nations in favour, two against and six abstentions). Throughout the week, the Irish delegation worked closely with fellow EU member states, coordinated by the European External Action Service and the Belgian delegation (as Belgium held the presidency of the Council of the EU at the time) to advance the above resolutions.

Various bilateral meetings were held with other national delegations during the 67th session. In addition, an extensive programme of side events was organised: more than 170 side events and over 30 exhibitions took place on various aspects of addressing and countering the world drug problem. These events provided an important opportunity for national delegations and civil society groups to showcase innovative responses and create networking opportunities to enhance learning and collaboration.

1    CND was established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Resolution 9(I) in 1946, to assist ECOSOC in supervising the application of the international drug control treaties. In 1991, the General Assembly expanded the mandate of CND to function as the governing body of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). CND’s agenda has two distinct segments: a normative segment for discharging treaty-based and normative functions as well as an operational segment for exercising its role as the governing body of UNODC. CND has 53 member states that are elected by ECOSOC. It is chaired by a bureau, including one member per Regional Group. CND actively contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, as sustainable development and CND mandates are interrelated and mutually reinforcing.

2    For further information on the 67th session, visit:
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CND/session/67_Session_2024/67CND_Main.html