For information only – not an official document
UNIS/NAR/1433
8 March 2021
VIENNA, 8 March (United Nations Information Service) – The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Mark Colhoun as the new Secretary of the Board and Chief of the INCB secretariat, effective 1 March 2021.
Mr. Colhoun, a national of South Africa, brings with him extensive experience in international drug policy and drug control. Until recently he served as the UNODC Representative for the Country Office in Kabul, Afghanistan, with over ten years serving in different positions in that office. Before that he spent three years as Law Enforcement Advisor at the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Prior to joining the United Nations, he spent seventeen years with the police in South Africa, joining the INCB secretariat in the area of precursor control from 1999 to 2007.
Mr. Colhoun holds a degree in Analytical Chemistry and a Master’s in Security Studies.
Mr. Colhoun’s broad knowledge and understanding of the world drug situation and its cross-cutting impact on health, human rights, development and security, combined with his hands-on experience in drug control and its political and diplomatic dimensions, as well as his senior management experience, make him the eminent choice for the position of Secretary of the Board.
With the many new challenges in the world drug situation, the Board is pleased to welcome Mr. Colhoun as its Secretary and looks forward to the strengthening of its secretariat, and enhancement of the support provided to the Board, so that the Board can continue to discharge its responsibilities under the international drug control conventions and resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and Commission on Narcotic Drugs in an effective manner.
With Mr. Colhoun at the helm of its secretariat, INCB looks forward to continuing its constructive collaboration with all State Parties, partners and stakeholders.
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INCB is the independent, quasi-judicial body charged with promoting and monitoring Government compliance with the three international drug control conventions: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Established by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, the thirteen members of the Board are elected in a personal capacity by the Economic and Social Council for terms of five years.
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For further information please contact:
INCB Secretariat
Telephone for media inquiries: (+43-1) 26060 4163
Email: incb.secretariat[at]un.org
Website: www.incb.org
