For information only – not an official document

UNIS/MA/321
6 March 2023

MEDIA ADVISORY

Journalists invited to cover the 66th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Vienna, 6 March 2023 – Journalists are invited to cover the 66th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to be held from 13-17 March 2023 at the Vienna International Centre, Austria.

The session will be chaired by Ambassador Miguel Camilo Ruiz Blanco, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations in Vienna, and the opening segment on the first day will include remarks by:

  • Ambassador Miguel Camilo RUIZ BLANCO (Colombia), Chairperson of the Commission
  • Ambassador Lachezara STOEVA (Bulgaria), President of the Economic and Social Council
  • Ghada WALY, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC);
  • TEDROS Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of World Health Organization (via video)
  • Jagjit PAVADIA, President of the International Narcotics Control Board
  • Volker TÜRK, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights(via video)

Resolutions under consideration by the Commission address the following topics:

  • Preparations for the midterm review to be held during the sixty-seventh session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in 2024
  • Promoting alternative development as a development-oriented drug control strategy, taking into account measures to protect the environment and recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples
  • Safe handling and disposal of synthetic drugs, their precursors and other chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of drugs
  • Strengthening information-sharing to increase international scheduling and the implementation of scheduling decisions
  • Expansion of the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in countering drug crime

The list of draft resolutions can be found here.

The 66th Session is expected to bring together participants from Member States, UN entities, inter-governmental organizations, civil society, and the scientific community in Vienna and online.

More than 150 side events and close to 30 exhibitions will take place during the 66th session of the CND on various aspects of addressing and countering the world drug problem.

Media can follow the opening of the session online or in person on 13 March 2023 at 10:00 AM (CET). To access the live stream, media accreditation and registration via the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), Vienna (press.vienna[at]un.org) is required.

Journalists are also invited to follow side events. The list of side events and their links will be posted on the website of the 66th CND closer to the start of the session.

Member States will make transcriptions and statements available to journalists at their own discretion.

Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #CND66 and follow @UNODC, @GhadaFathiWaly, @CND_tweets and @UN_Vienna for updates.

Further information can be found here.

Draft Agenda of the 66th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs is available here.

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For further information please contact:

Brian Hansford
Advocacy Section Chief, UNODC
Telephone: (+43 1) 26060-83225
Mobile: (+43-699) 1458-3225 
Email: brian.hansford[at]un.org

or

Anne Thomas
Public Information Officer, UNIS Vienna
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-5588
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-5588
Email: anne.thomas[at]un.org

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