Regional cooperation for the eradication of the demand for drugs subject to abuse and related problems

Recalling General Assembly resolution S-17/2 of 23 February 1990, in which the Assembly adopted the Political Declaration and Global Programme of Action on international cooperation against illicit production, supply, demand, trafficking and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and proclaimed the period from 1991 to 2000 the United Nations Decade against Drug Abuse,

Recalling also the responsibilities assigned to the regional commissions in the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse Control, adopted by the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, held in Vienna from 17 to 26 June 1987,

Recalling further the Tokyo Declaration on Enhanced Regional Cooperation for Drug Abuse Control in Asia and the Pacific, adopted by the Meeting of Senior Officials on Drug Abuse Issues in Asia and the Pacific, held in Tokyo from 13 to 15 February 1991, and endorsed by the Commission at its forty-seventh session, held in Seoul in April 1991, and also recalling the Sydney Declaration on Enhanced Regional Cooperation to Reduce the Risks of Drug Abuse in Asia and the Pacific, adopted by the Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Drug Abuse: the Balanced Approach, held in Sydney, Australia, from 29 May to 1 June 1994,

Bearing in mind General Assembly resolution 46/104 of 16 December 1991, by which the United Nations International Drug Control Programme was mandated to coordinate and provide effective leadership for all United Nations drug control activities,

Recalling the report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 1994, which states that the countries of the Oceanic region are increasingly being used as transit points and are at risk of becoming centres for laundering profits from illicit drug trafficking, and which draws attention to the increased cultivation of a very potent species of cannabis in the region, as well as to the increasing number of illicit drug users in the region,

Emphasizing that the problem of drug abuse must be considered within the broader economic and social context in terms of its causes and consequences, as well as the means of its reduction, as set out in the Social Development Strategy for the ESCAP Region Towards the Year 2000 and Beyond, which was endorsed by the Commission in its resolution 48/5 of 23 April 1992,

Expressing grave concern over the rapid spread and increasing severity of drug abuse and related problems, such as crime, family breakdown and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Asia and the Pacific, particularly among the poor,

Convinced that the resource book on measures to reduce illicit demand for drugs, which was published in 1982 and will be updated by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, will be a useful reference in developing effective national programmes for drug demand reduction, with special attention to the basic principles of demand reduction to be included in the updated version of the book,

Taking cognizance of the links between drug trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other related organized criminal activities which undermine the economies and threaten the stability, security and sovereignty of States,

Mindful of the activities being undertaken by the Commission, in close collaboration with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, and other concerned United Nations bodies and agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme and the World Health Organization, as well as the Colombo Plan Bureau, to develop effective national programmes for drug demand reduction, with particular attention to community-based approaches to drug demand reduction,

Appreciative of the efforts made by the Executive Secretary to improve collaboration among members and associate members in drug demand reduction and related problems, particularly through the regional network of national focal points on demand aspects of drug abuse control,

1. Urges all members and associate members to accord priority to the development and implementation of effective policies and programmes to reduce the demand for drugs;
2. Invites all members and associate members which have not already done so to establish national focal points on demand aspects of drug abuse control as members of the regional network of national focal points on demand aspects of drug abuse control, and to provide all such focal points with the requisite mandates and resources to enable them to discharge their duties effectively;
3. Calls upon the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, as well as all other concerned United Nations bodies and agencies, to intensify their collaboration with ESCAP in activities aimed at the reduction of drug demand and related problems at the regional, subregional and national levels;
4. Urges all members and associate members to substantially promote their activities and methods for treatment and rehabilitation for drug abusers;
5. Invites all concerned non-governmental, private voluntary and community-based organizations to offer their facilities, and to work in close coordination with Governments in the region, in the common effort to reduce the demand for drugs subject to abuse;
6. Requests the Executive Secretary, subject to available resources:

   (a) To collaborate with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme in undertaking further studies, where needed, on national policies and means of regional cooperation to reduce drug demand and related problems, with particular reference to the poor;

   (b) To ensure that adequate assistance is provided to all members and associate members in the development and strengthening of comprehensive policies and programmes for the reduction of drug demand and the alleviation of related problems;

   (c) To continue to promote the regional network of national focal points on demand aspects of drug abuse control, and to provide technical assistance to the countries and areas of the Pacific subregion in exploring the possibility of establishing a subregional training centre for drug demand reduction with no expectation that such a centre would be a subsidiary body of ESCAP;

   (d) To explore the possibility, in close collaboration with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, of convening a regional expert meeting on drug abuse control in the Asian and Pacific region;

7. Requests the Executive Secretary to report to the Commission at its fifty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution, and on proposed follow-up measures.

Back to the overview of resolutions

Home | Site Map | Feedback | UN Home Page | ESCAP Home Page
© 1997-1998 United Nations ESCAP - All rights reserved. Last update 16 December 1997