As each year, the Pompidou Group participated in the 67^th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of the United Nation that took place from 14 to 22 March 2024. The high-level segment planned for 14-15 March focused on the midterm review to assess progress made in the implementation of all international drug policy commitments as set forth in the 2019 Ministerial Declaration. 

Pompidou Group’s Italian Presidency was represented at this session by Mr Alfredo Mantovano, Under Secretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers who delivered the statement on the Group’s behalf.

Read the statement of the Italian Presidency (bilingual)

On the occasion of this annual international event, the Pompidou Group organised the side event ‘Interventions for Strengthening the Role of Parents in Drug Prevention’ in partnership with the Governments of Czechia, Georgia, Mexico, Italy, and Poland during the 67^th CND in Vienna on 19 March. The side event explored practices and programmes available to support parents who use substances in Italy, school programmes for parents and educators in Poland, interventions with parents through positive parenting programmes in Georgia as well as international perspectives and experiences from 11 countries of the Pompidou Group through preliminary research on children of parents who use drugs. It was an occasion to underline the role and involvement of parents in drug prevention and encourage countries to strengthen support for parents through scientifically founded interventions.

In addition, Pompidou Group co-sponsored eight other side events organised by member states and partner organisations, as follows: 

1. ‘Global call for action: scaling-up evidence-based provision of drug treatment and health services’ – organiser: Italy and Switzerland, supported by UNODC;
2. ‘Evidence based early prevention as a core human right focused investment needed to reduce the risks of public safety posed by drugs’ – organiser: Slovenia, supported by EU, Norway, the UNODC Prevention, Treatment and rehabilitation Section, Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs and the UTRIP Institute;
3. ‘Mitigating the socio-economic impact related to drug use by strengthening societal resilience, through community-based action’ – organiser: Malta, supported by Canada, Mexico, Norway, Thailand, South-Africa, Switzerland, EU, UNODC Research and Trend Analysis Branch, Pompidou Group and the International Network of People who use Drugs;
4. ‘Empowering global drug prevention through strengthening systems – RePS’ – organized by Norway, supported by UNODC, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, WHO, EMCDDA, Pompidou Group and Canada;
5. ‘Public Health Policing: Advancing Drug Policy Reform, Harm Reduction, and Collaborative Strategies’ – organiser: Moldovan supported by Estonia, Switzerland, UNODC HIV/AIDS Section, Group of Friends on HIV Prevention Among People Who use Drugs and People Living in Prison Settings, Pompidou Group, Global Law Enforcement and Public health Association, Eastern and Central European and Central Asian Commission on Drug policy and the Eurasian harm Reduction Association;
6. ‘Alternatives to prison in Latin America: learning the impact on women’ – organiser: Mexico, supported by Colombia, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pompidou Group, UNODC, Elementa DDHH, CEA Justicia Social, Corporacion Centro de Estudios de Derecho and the Justicia y Sociedad
7. ‘Online Gaming Platforms - New Drug Marketplaces’ – organiser: Austria, supported by Mexico, Poland, Pompidou Group and the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States;
8. ‘The Declaration of Oviedo: Incorporating Prevention in Drug Policies’ – organizer: Association Proyecto Hombre, supported by Spain, UNODC prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, Pompidou Group, Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs, the World Federation Against Drugs and Dianova International.

Link to the web site of the CND 67^th Session