Return To: 2024 Handbook
2024 Handbook SPECIAL COMMITTEE: World Health Assembly (WHA)
Topics
The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Assembly first met in 1948 and now meets annually in Geneva. All WHO Member States participate in the WHA. The World Health Assembly sets policies of the Organization, evaluates and approves the proposed budget, and elects the Director-General.
Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health
Despite being half of the global population, women, children and adolescents are experiencing severe inequities when it comes to access to healthcare. Five million children die before reaching the age of five, women in developing regions are frequently unable to receive maternal healthcare and adolescents often lack access to contraceptives. While women, children and adolescents face diverse challenges when it comes to health, most work on this topic focuses on reproductive and early childhood health. Women and children play important roles in the development of a community and investing in their health can lead to saving the lives of millions.
Since 1948, the United Nations has recognized the important role women and children play in society. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations strived to ensure women and children received special care and attention, especially when it came to health. In 1959, the United Nations enacted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child with Principle 4 specifically focusing on the health and well-being of children and their mothers and emphasized the importance of providing prenatal and postnatal care. In 1966, the United Nations established the United Nations Capital Development Fund as a means of providing capital to developing nations without any adverse conditions; this fund would be renamed the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1987 and focus on providing reproductive freedom for adolescents and women.
Progress towards ensuring women had access to necessary health care and were treated with respect continued to face challenges, leading the United Nations to establish the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979. CEDAW emphasized the importance of promoting equal rights between men and women, especially in the area of health where women continued to face discrimination because of limited access to family planning and reproductive counseling services. Ten years later, the United Nations enacted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), further emphasizing the family as a fundamental unit of society and the importance of providing children with special protections. Amongst other things, this convention recognized that children have the right to life and should have access to nutritious food and preventive healthcare.
In 1994, UNFPA held the International Conference on Population and Development, leading to the creation of the landmark Programme of Action, which established new standards for the promotion and protection of the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. The Programme of Action aimed to provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare to women and adolescents such as infertility treatments, cancer screenings and education on HIV/AIDs. The Programme also aimed to decrease child mortality rates by eradicating infectious diseases and providing children with a safe, hygienic environment.
At the turn of the millennium, 529,000 maternal deaths occurred while ten million children were dying before the age of five. The United Nations established the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2000 as a means of improving human rights and development globally with MDGs 4, 5 and 6 focused on reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating diseases such as HIV/AIDs respectively. As a result of implementing the MDGs, maternal deaths were nearly cut in half to 289,000 while less than 6 million children died before the age of five by the year 2015. The United Nations continued this progress with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). SDG 3 focuses on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, with specific targets towards reducing maternal mortality rate, providing universal access to reproductive health-care services, and supporting the research and development of vaccines.
In response to the SDGs, the World Health Assembly (WHA) enacted the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030), a bold roadmap for ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths and improving the overall well-being of women, children and adolescents. The strategy emphasizes three broad ideals: survive, thrive and transform. Since the Global Strategy’s implementation, WHA, in coordination with other United Nations agencies, has established several new programs and initiatives, including The Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations to provide appropriate medicines for infants and children and the establishment of a Sexual and Reproductive Health Team to address conflict-related sexual violence.
As of 2023, the Global Strategy has led to the development of the INSPIRE framework to target violence against children and the establishment of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Task Team for women and adolescents. However, the poor inclusion of women and children in data collection continues to slow progress. Furthermore, gender-based violence against women and girls increased between 2020-2023, while universal coverage of health services decreased. Universal Health Coverage is an important precursor as only 77.6 percent of women, children and adolescents receive general medical care, let alone specialized care. Community-based programs like UNICEF’s Community Health Roadmap have led sixteen countries to establish health-investment priorities towards a comprehensive community-health strategy.
Questions to consider from your country’s perspective:
- What steps can Member States take to encourage the implementation of the Global Strategy?
- How can Member States utilize the Global Strategy to effectively respond to the health challenges women, children and adolescents face?
- How should the Global Strategy address the increase of gender-based violence against women and girls?
Bibliography Bibliography
- Catholic Medical Missions Board. Why Women and Children.
- Community Health Roadmap.
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
- Kaseje, Neema et al. (15 February 2024). 5 drivers of women and children’s health in under-served rural and refugee communities. World Economic Forum.
- Results for Development. Community Health.
- UNICEF (March 2024). Under-five mortality.
- UNICEF (17 October 2023). UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell’s remarks at the World Health Summit launch of the Community Health Delivery Partnership.
- UNICEF (1 May 2016). The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030).
- UNICEF (2004). Maternal Mortality in 2000: Estimates developed by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA.
- United Nations (10 December 1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- United Nations. Children.
- United Nations. Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality.
- United Nations. Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health.
- United Nations. Millennium Development Goals.
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The 17 Goals.
- United Nations Population Fund (1994). Programme of Action.
- United Nations Population Fund. About us.
- Vledder, Monique and Juan Pablo Uribe (14 November 2022). Amid multiple crises, accelerating progress for women’s, children’s and adolescent health. World Bank Blogs.
- World Health Organization (26 April 2024). Maternal mortality.
- World Health Organization (18 April 2023). Committing to implementation of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030).
- World Health Organization (18 October 2022). Staggering backsliding across women’s, children’s and adolescent’s health revealed in new UN analysis.
- World Health Organization (25 March 2021). 6 priorities for women and health.
- World Health Organization (2015). The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030).
- World Health Organization. Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations Network (GAP-f).
- World Health Organization. Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health Data Portal.
United Nations Documents United Nations Documents
- United Nations, General Assembly (25 September 2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1.
- United Nations, General Assembly (18 September 2000). United Nations Millennium Declaration. A/RES/55/2.
- World Health Assembly (6 April 2023). Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030). A76/5.
- World Health Assembly (8 April 2019). Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030). A72/30.
- World Health Assembly (10 May 2018). Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030): early childhood development. A71/19 Rev.1.
Public health dimension of the world drug problem Public health dimension of the world drug problem
Drug abuse poses a grave threat to public health, with millions of lives impacted by addiction, overdose and related health complications each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 275 million people use psychoactive drugs annually, 36 million people suffer from drug use disorders and at least 583,000 annual deaths are the result of drug use, two-thirds of which are caused by opioid abuse or misuse. While the world population increased by ten percent in the past decade, the prevalence of opioid use increased by 76 percent, with the rate of non-medical opioid use doubling.
In 1961, the United Nations adopted the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which recognized that while narcotic drugs are indispensable for pain relief, addiction to narcotic drugs is a serious evil for individuals. By 1972, the United Nations added regulations for psychotropic drugs due to public health concerns surrounding abuse of them. However, the trafficking of illicit drugs continued to escalate throughout the 1980s, further driving levels of drug abuse in individuals. To combat this, the United Nations passed the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in 1988. This convention created a legal enforcement mechanism while encouraging Member States to engage in capacity building and technology trading to decrease both drug trafficking and substance abuse.
Between 1990 and 2000, the United Nations General Assembly held two extraordinary sessions to increase efforts to fight against illicit drug abuse. At the first session, the United Nations enacted the Political Declaration and Global Program of Action, which focused on increasing cooperation at the international, regional and national levels to fight against the production of illicit drugs and create public health campaigns to reduce the demand for illicit drugs. At the second session, the United Nations proposed new strategies and practical measures, including utilizing demand reduction programmes to promote health and social well-being in areas most negatively impacted by drug abuse and drug trafficking.
In 2008, the United Nations established the Global SMART Programme to generate, manage, analyze and report illicit drug information. The next year, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) released the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation Towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem where it shifted its response to the illicit drug problem by viewing the demand for drugs as a social disease and encouraging Member States to adopt drug demand reduction measures that focus on prevention and intervention over incarceration. Five years later, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs launched the Early Warning Advisory on New Psychoactive Substances to identify those drugs of most present and significant concern to the international community that would require coordinated response. Following this, the United Nations held a third special session on the world drug problem in 2016. This session further recognized drug abuse as a complex multifactorial health disorder that requires non-discriminatory treatment and intervention to resolve.
In 2018, UNODC launched the Opioid Strategy, a five pillar multilateral response to the opiate epidemic which consists of early warning and trend analysis, rational prescribing and access to opioids for medical and scientific use, prevention and treatment programmes, international law enforcement operations to disrupt trafficking, and strengthening national and international counter-narcotic capacity. The World Health Organization(WHO) launched the public health dimension of the world drug problem, a multisector, people-centered program that focuses on treating people with drug abuse, reducing the harm for people who use drugs and increasing the monitoring of illicit drug trafficking. Despite the movement restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a record amount of methamphetamines were manufactured in 2021. WHO, in coordination with UNODC, launched the Synthetic Drug Strategy in 2021. This strategy provides a framework for response composed of four main spheres: multilateralism, health responses, early warning and counternarcotic interventions.
While the Synthetic Drug Strategy has provided 120 countries with capacity building and technical assistance, conflicts and crises continue to drive the world drug problem. Fewer than 20 percent of people with drug use disorders have access to treatment, with women facing higher barriers to access due social stigmatization, lack of child care and fear of losing custody of their children while receiving treatment. However, the United Nations strives to provide evidence-based health services and programmes to people and their families that are either struggling with addiction or lack access to drugs for medical purposes. Furthermore, while the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) re-classified cannabis and cannabis resin, recognizing cannabis’ medical value, this change does not promote legalization of cannabis. Decriminalizing drug use and possession may allow individuals dealing with drug use disorders to seek help and increase access to treatment without fear of punitive measures taken against them. However, the negative effects of decriminalization like micro-trafficking and misuse of cannabis have caused some countries to repeal their own decriminalization laws. Harm Reduction International suggests divest/Invest programs could also be effective at shifting the focus away from the drug war and increase investment in harm reduction and social programs to improve local communities.
Questions to consider from your country’s perspective:
- Because of the disproportionate impacts of the drug crisis in relation to socioeconomic factors, how can Member States coordinate their efforts to find solutions that benefit the international community at large?
- Some Member States have sought to respond to the drug crisis with hardline punitive criminal measures, while others have attempted efforts at drug decriminalization. How should the United Nations accommodate this range of responses when discussing international drug policies?
- How can the United Nations improve the effectiveness of the Synthetic Drug Strategy, especially in high-conflict regions?
Bibliography Bibliography
- Global Commission on Drug Policy. HIV, Hepatitis and Drug Policy Reform.
- Harm Reduction International (23 April 2024). Annual Report 2023.
- Oxford, Dwayne (11 April 2024). Why are some countries decriminalising drugs? Al Jazeera.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2024). Key Findings and Conclusions: 2024 World Drug Report.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2023). Executive Summary: 2023 World Drug Report.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (November 2021). UNODC Synthetic Drug Strategy.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2016). Outcome Document of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (March 2009). Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation Towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Global SMART Update 2009.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Implementation around the world.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Predict, Prevent, Protect.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The Strategy.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. UNODC Synthetic Drug Strategy 2021-2025.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. What is the Early Warning Advisory?
- United Nations (1988). Final Act of the United Nations Conference for the Adoption of a Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
- United Nations (1972). Final Act of the United Nations Conference for the Adoption of a Single Convention On Psychotropic Substances.
- United Nations (1961). Final Act of the United Nations Conference for the Adoption of a Single Convention On Narcotic Drugs.
- World Health Organization (4 December 2020). UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs reclassifies cannabis to recognize its therapeutic uses.
- World Health Organization. Public health dimension of the world drug problem.
United Nations Documents United Nations Documents
- United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (2018). Report on the sixty-first session. E/2018/28.
- United Nations General Assembly (June 1998). Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the General Assembly during its twentieth special session. A/S-20/14(SUPP).
- United Nations General Assembly (23 February 1990). Political Declaration and Global Programme of Action adopted by the General Assembly at its seventh special session, devoted to the question of international cooperation against illicit production, supply, demand, trafficking and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. A/RES/S-17/2.
- World Health Assembly (25 April 2022). Public health dimension of the world drug problem: Report by the Director General. A75(43).
- World Health Assembly (31 May 2017). Public health dimension of the world drug problem. WHA70(18).
Topics
The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Assembly first met in 1948 and now meets annually in Geneva. All WHO Member States participate in the WHA. The World Health Assembly sets policies of the Organization, evaluates and approves the proposed budget, and elects the Director-General.
Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health
Despite being half of the global population, women, children and adolescents are experiencing severe inequities when it comes to access to healthcare. Five million children die before reaching the age of five, women in developing regions are frequently unable to receive maternal healthcare and adolescents often lack access to contraceptives. While women, children and adolescents face diverse challenges when it comes to health, most work on this topic focuses on reproductive and early childhood health. Women and children play important roles in the development of a community and investing in their health can lead to saving the lives of millions.
Since 1948, the United Nations has recognized the important role women and children play in society. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations strived to ensure women and children received special care and attention, especially when it came to health. In 1959, the United Nations enacted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child with Principle 4 specifically focusing on the health and well-being of children and their mothers and emphasized the importance of providing prenatal and postnatal care. In 1966, the United Nations established the United Nations Capital Development Fund as a means of providing capital to developing nations without any adverse conditions; this fund would be renamed the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1987 and focus on providing reproductive freedom for adolescents and women.
Progress towards ensuring women had access to necessary health care and were treated with respect continued to face challenges, leading the United Nations to establish the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979. CEDAW emphasized the importance of promoting equal rights between men and women, especially in the area of health where women continued to face discrimination because of limited access to family planning and reproductive counseling services. Ten years later, the United Nations enacted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), further emphasizing the family as a fundamental unit of society and the importance of providing children with special protections. Amongst other things, this convention recognized that children have the right to life and should have access to nutritious food and preventive healthcare.
In 1994, UNFPA held the International Conference on Population and Development, leading to the creation of the landmark Programme of Action, which established new standards for the promotion and protection of the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. The Programme of Action aimed to provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare to women and adolescents such as infertility treatments, cancer screenings and education on HIV/AIDs. The Programme also aimed to decrease child mortality rates by eradicating infectious diseases and providing children with a safe, hygienic environment.
At the turn of the millennium, 529,000 maternal deaths occurred while ten million children were dying before the age of five. The United Nations established the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2000 as a means of improving human rights and development globally with MDGs 4, 5 and 6 focused on reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating diseases such as HIV/AIDs respectively. As a result of implementing the MDGs, maternal deaths were nearly cut in half to 289,000 while less than 6 million children died before the age of five by the year 2015. The United Nations continued this progress with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). SDG 3 focuses on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, with specific targets towards reducing maternal mortality rate, providing universal access to reproductive health-care services, and supporting the research and development of vaccines.
In response to the SDGs, the World Health Assembly (WHA) enacted the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030), a bold roadmap for ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths and improving the overall well-being of women, children and adolescents. The strategy emphasizes three broad ideals: survive, thrive and transform. Since the Global Strategy’s implementation, WHA, in coordination with other United Nations agencies, has established several new programs and initiatives, including The Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations to provide appropriate medicines for infants and children and the establishment of a Sexual and Reproductive Health Team to address conflict-related sexual violence.
As of 2023, the Global Strategy has led to the development of the INSPIRE framework to target violence against children and the establishment of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Task Team for women and adolescents. However, the poor inclusion of women and children in data collection continues to slow progress. Furthermore, gender-based violence against women and girls increased between 2020-2023, while universal coverage of health services decreased. Universal Health Coverage is an important precursor as only 77.6 percent of women, children and adolescents receive general medical care, let alone specialized care. Community-based programs like UNICEF’s Community Health Roadmap have led sixteen countries to establish health-investment priorities towards a comprehensive community-health strategy.
Questions to consider from your country’s perspective:
- What steps can Member States take to encourage the implementation of the Global Strategy?
- How can Member States utilize the Global Strategy to effectively respond to the health challenges women, children and adolescents face?
- How should the Global Strategy address the increase of gender-based violence against women and girls?
Bibliography Bibliography
- Catholic Medical Missions Board. Why Women and Children.
- Community Health Roadmap.
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
- Kaseje, Neema et al. (15 February 2024). 5 drivers of women and children’s health in under-served rural and refugee communities. World Economic Forum.
- Results for Development. Community Health.
- UNICEF (March 2024). Under-five mortality.
- UNICEF (17 October 2023). UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell’s remarks at the World Health Summit launch of the Community Health Delivery Partnership.
- UNICEF (1 May 2016). The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030).
- UNICEF (2004). Maternal Mortality in 2000: Estimates developed by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA.
- United Nations (10 December 1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- United Nations. Children.
- United Nations. Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality.
- United Nations. Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health.
- United Nations. Millennium Development Goals.
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The 17 Goals.
- United Nations Population Fund (1994). Programme of Action.
- United Nations Population Fund. About us.
- Vledder, Monique and Juan Pablo Uribe (14 November 2022). Amid multiple crises, accelerating progress for women’s, children’s and adolescent health. World Bank Blogs.
- World Health Organization (26 April 2024). Maternal mortality.
- World Health Organization (18 April 2023). Committing to implementation of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030).
- World Health Organization (18 October 2022). Staggering backsliding across women’s, children’s and adolescent’s health revealed in new UN analysis.
- World Health Organization (25 March 2021). 6 priorities for women and health.
- World Health Organization (2015). The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030).
- World Health Organization. Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations Network (GAP-f).
- World Health Organization. Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health Data Portal.
United Nations Documents United Nations Documents
- United Nations, General Assembly (25 September 2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1.
- United Nations, General Assembly (18 September 2000). United Nations Millennium Declaration. A/RES/55/2.
- World Health Assembly (6 April 2023). Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030). A76/5.
- World Health Assembly (8 April 2019). Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030). A72/30.
- World Health Assembly (10 May 2018). Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030): early childhood development. A71/19 Rev.1.
Public health dimension of the world drug problem Public health dimension of the world drug problem
Drug abuse poses a grave threat to public health, with millions of lives impacted by addiction, overdose and related health complications each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 275 million people use psychoactive drugs annually, 36 million people suffer from drug use disorders and at least 583,000 annual deaths are the result of drug use, two-thirds of which are caused by opioid abuse or misuse. While the world population increased by ten percent in the past decade, the prevalence of opioid use increased by 76 percent, with the rate of non-medical opioid use doubling.
In 1961, the United Nations adopted the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which recognized that while narcotic drugs are indispensable for pain relief, addiction to narcotic drugs is a serious evil for individuals. By 1972, the United Nations added regulations for psychotropic drugs due to public health concerns surrounding abuse of them. However, the trafficking of illicit drugs continued to escalate throughout the 1980s, further driving levels of drug abuse in individuals. To combat this, the United Nations passed the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in 1988. This convention created a legal enforcement mechanism while encouraging Member States to engage in capacity building and technology trading to decrease both drug trafficking and substance abuse.
Between 1990 and 2000, the United Nations General Assembly held two extraordinary sessions to increase efforts to fight against illicit drug abuse. At the first session, the United Nations enacted the Political Declaration and Global Program of Action, which focused on increasing cooperation at the international, regional and national levels to fight against the production of illicit drugs and create public health campaigns to reduce the demand for illicit drugs. At the second session, the United Nations proposed new strategies and practical measures, including utilizing demand reduction programmes to promote health and social well-being in areas most negatively impacted by drug abuse and drug trafficking.
In 2008, the United Nations established the Global SMART Programme to generate, manage, analyze and report illicit drug information. The next year, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) released the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation Towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem where it shifted its response to the illicit drug problem by viewing the demand for drugs as a social disease and encouraging Member States to adopt drug demand reduction measures that focus on prevention and intervention over incarceration. Five years later, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs launched the Early Warning Advisory on New Psychoactive Substances to identify those drugs of most present and significant concern to the international community that would require coordinated response. Following this, the United Nations held a third special session on the world drug problem in 2016. This session further recognized drug abuse as a complex multifactorial health disorder that requires non-discriminatory treatment and intervention to resolve.
In 2018, UNODC launched the Opioid Strategy, a five pillar multilateral response to the opiate epidemic which consists of early warning and trend analysis, rational prescribing and access to opioids for medical and scientific use, prevention and treatment programmes, international law enforcement operations to disrupt trafficking, and strengthening national and international counter-narcotic capacity. The World Health Organization(WHO) launched the public health dimension of the world drug problem, a multisector, people-centered program that focuses on treating people with drug abuse, reducing the harm for people who use drugs and increasing the monitoring of illicit drug trafficking. Despite the movement restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a record amount of methamphetamines were manufactured in 2021. WHO, in coordination with UNODC, launched the Synthetic Drug Strategy in 2021. This strategy provides a framework for response composed of four main spheres: multilateralism, health responses, early warning and counternarcotic interventions.
While the Synthetic Drug Strategy has provided 120 countries with capacity building and technical assistance, conflicts and crises continue to drive the world drug problem. Fewer than 20 percent of people with drug use disorders have access to treatment, with women facing higher barriers to access due social stigmatization, lack of child care and fear of losing custody of their children while receiving treatment. However, the United Nations strives to provide evidence-based health services and programmes to people and their families that are either struggling with addiction or lack access to drugs for medical purposes. Furthermore, while the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) re-classified cannabis and cannabis resin, recognizing cannabis’ medical value, this change does not promote legalization of cannabis. Decriminalizing drug use and possession may allow individuals dealing with drug use disorders to seek help and increase access to treatment without fear of punitive measures taken against them. However, the negative effects of decriminalization like micro-trafficking and misuse of cannabis have caused some countries to repeal their own decriminalization laws. Harm Reduction International suggests divest/Invest programs could also be effective at shifting the focus away from the drug war and increase investment in harm reduction and social programs to improve local communities.
Questions to consider from your country’s perspective:
- Because of the disproportionate impacts of the drug crisis in relation to socioeconomic factors, how can Member States coordinate their efforts to find solutions that benefit the international community at large?
- Some Member States have sought to respond to the drug crisis with hardline punitive criminal measures, while others have attempted efforts at drug decriminalization. How should the United Nations accommodate this range of responses when discussing international drug policies?
- How can the United Nations improve the effectiveness of the Synthetic Drug Strategy, especially in high-conflict regions?
Bibliography Bibliography
- Global Commission on Drug Policy. HIV, Hepatitis and Drug Policy Reform.
- Harm Reduction International (23 April 2024). Annual Report 2023.
- Oxford, Dwayne (11 April 2024). Why are some countries decriminalising drugs? Al Jazeera.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2024). Key Findings and Conclusions: 2024 World Drug Report.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2023). Executive Summary: 2023 World Drug Report.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (November 2021). UNODC Synthetic Drug Strategy.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2016). Outcome Document of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (March 2009). Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation Towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Global SMART Update 2009.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Implementation around the world.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Predict, Prevent, Protect.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The Strategy.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. UNODC Synthetic Drug Strategy 2021-2025.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. What is the Early Warning Advisory?
- United Nations (1988). Final Act of the United Nations Conference for the Adoption of a Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
- United Nations (1972). Final Act of the United Nations Conference for the Adoption of a Single Convention On Psychotropic Substances.
- United Nations (1961). Final Act of the United Nations Conference for the Adoption of a Single Convention On Narcotic Drugs.
- World Health Organization (4 December 2020). UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs reclassifies cannabis to recognize its therapeutic uses.
- World Health Organization. Public health dimension of the world drug problem.
United Nations Documents United Nations Documents
- United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (2018). Report on the sixty-first session. E/2018/28.
- United Nations General Assembly (June 1998). Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the General Assembly during its twentieth special session. A/S-20/14(SUPP).
- United Nations General Assembly (23 February 1990). Political Declaration and Global Programme of Action adopted by the General Assembly at its seventh special session, devoted to the question of international cooperation against illicit production, supply, demand, trafficking and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. A/RES/S-17/2.
- World Health Assembly (25 April 2022). Public health dimension of the world drug problem: Report by the Director General. A75(43).
- World Health Assembly (31 May 2017). Public health dimension of the world drug problem. WHA70(18).