Window of hope.

At a Special Session in June, the General Assembly decides to move from a drug-control strategy centred around substances to one focused on the people who fall victim to them. And the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) prepares to serve as the world's early warning system on trends and problems emerging in its field.

The United Nations is now poised to play a leading role in guiding the international response to drug abuse. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs has now been mandated to receive, every two years, and analyze reports on States' efforts to meet the goals and targets set at the Special Session (8-10 June 1998) as a part of a monitoring process. What has emerged from New York could rightfully be termed a new approach in international drug control-with global consensus reached to pursue for the first time a balanced approach-giving equal priority to both demand and supply reduction.

Under the guidance of its Executive Director, Pino Arlacchi, UNDCP implements a broad range of drug control activities worldwide and is entrusted with the leadership and coordination of drug control efforts throughout the United Nations system. The Programme already is working to ensure that a balanced approach will be reflected in our activities worldwide, at our headquarters in Vienna and in our approximately 20 field offices active in every region of the world. Of a budget of approximately $160 million, most will support projects which will reflect closely the spirit of New York.

The Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction, adopted at the Special Session, establishes a new equilibrium-recognizing demand reduction as one of the pillars of the new global strategy.

Moving from a strategy centred around substances (drugs) to one more focused on people that fall victim of these substances is not just a change in terminology. When Member States decided that the Special Session would be identified as devoted to countering the world drug problem together, this new terminology reflected the new world thinking, emphasizing that this is a major human tragedy. This is in line with a balanced approach and a more humane and inventive approach, from the elimination of the illicit cultivation and production of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances to the treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration of drug abusers, underscoring the view that drug control is a means to ensure the protection of the human rights of each and every member of the community, from the abusers and their families to the rural poor who have been coerced into illegal crop cultivation and whose move to legal and economical activities must be encouraged and supported.

After the Special Session, UNDCP invited non-governmental organization representatives in New York to discuss and work on a Demand Reduction Draft Action Plan, which we expect to present to Governments later this year. Drawing upon expertise from around the world, we are gathering together the principles and examples of best practice in various specific demand reduction activities, acting as the hub of the international wheel of knowledge and expertise.

Also immediately after the Special Session, Mr. Arlacchi met the President of the World Bank, James D. Wolfensohn, who "suggested that Bank activities in poverty reduction, health and education could be used to improve the overall quality of life in affected countries, particularly in Latin America, thus reducing incentives to drug cultivation and curtailing damage to institutions and society". Follow-up discussions between the Bank and UNDCP are taking place. At the same time, UNDCP, as part of its global approach to drag control, is formulating and refining implementation strategies and practical sets of programmes and projects in support of the action plan for the elimination of illicit drug crops and on alternative development approved in New York and the targets contained therein. UNDCP is also developing a global monitoring project to establish neutral, objective and independent data sources on illicit cultivation, in close cooperation with both donor and recipient countries, guided by the need for a community-wide participatory approach based on dialogue and persuasion and the respect of individual human rights. UNDCP is also pursuing, on an international basis, the creation of a series of publications aimed at policy makers which will make the case for national investment in demand reduction while offering examples of what can be done - and how it can be done - in many demand reduction areas.

Commissioned by UNDCP, an important study on money-laundering, so linked to illicit drug trafficking, was released immediately before the Special Session. "Financial Havens, Banking Secrecy and Money-laundering" is aimed at stimulating discussion on these subjects and helping the international community find solutions to the problems that continue to harm the financial well-being of countries and individuals worldwide. We have begun to work closely with Governments and important international agencies and organizations in this area.

UNDCP has undertaken a preliminary assessment on how best to take up the role as a global centre of information on clandestine synthetic drugs like amphetamine-type stimulants. We see our role as monitoring the problem; analyzing changing patterns of abuse, production and trafficking; assessing the replacement of botanical drugs by synthetic drugs; strengthening work on technical, scientific aspects of the problem; and disseminating results to States and to the public. Also, upon request, we will assist States to develop strategies at the national and subregional levels to counter trafficking in abuse and amphetamine-type stimulants, and we will coordinate the work of non-governmental organizations in this field.

Similarly, United Nations experts will analyze information on illicit trends in the manufacture and use of precursors; study the potential use of non-scheduled substances to manufacture illicit drugs; maintain a special surveillance list of such substances; and develop methods to detect and analyze them. We will develop and maintain a data base on precursors and provide expanded advice and assistance to States to identify suspicious transactions and prevent diversions to illicit channels. Upon request, we will assist States to strengthen their law enforcement capacity to prevent diversion, investigate clandestine laboratories and seize precursors.

In the area of judicial cooperation, we initially will enhance our ability to assist States through the provision of model legislation; facilitate the exchange between States of summaries of domestic laws, extradition practices and other information; and assist in the negotiation of treaties (for instance, our Model Treaty on Extradition is currently used as a resource when such treaties are being negotiated). Where possible, UNDCP will also help in such areas as mutual legal assistance, use of modern technologies, exchange programmes, and generally ensuring that States wishing or needing to do so can enhance their abilities to implement the provisions of the three major drug control conventions.

A global concern voiced in the Political Declaration adopted at the Special Session was the security and well-being of our youth. Too often in the past, concern for youth has resulted in well-meaning but often futile paternalistic activities, where lack of success reflects directly a lack of youth involvement at all levels from policy creation to programme delivery.

We are hopeful that the Special Session, with its emphasis on youth and what our young people have to say, marks a departure from the past and a major step into a future where our young people will be called upon to play a real and necessary role in the control and elimination of drug abuse. The youth panel and the presentation of the Youth Charter and the results of the 14 to 18 April youth event in Banff, Alberta, Canada, underscored the importance of youth participation in international drug control. This is a lesson that has not been lost on UNDCP, and we will be sure to factor the "youth element" both in our programme strategies and in our efforts to assist Governments, other international and multilateral agencies, and civil society in all aspects of drug control.

The road to a world free of drug abuse, we realize, is long and with many twists and turns, but the destination is worth the effort, and it can be done. The Political Declaration for the first time provides us with target dates, both interim (2003) and final (2008) - a clear indication of our collective belief that drug abuse can be overcome. In New York, the world community met together for three historic days, reviewed progress in countering drug abuse to date and looked realistically and confidently into the future. In concert, States recommitted themselves to counter the world drug problem together.

At the international level, UNDCP will continue to be there every step of the way, assisting Governments and civil society in meeting goals and working towards a more civil society. We will do this by becoming a global nexus of research and expertise. We ought to serve as the world's early warning system against emerging problems and trends in drug control. And the way to accomplish this is by thinking strategically, acting as a global coordinator and being on the ground-close to where the problems exist. We count now on practical actions that will be taken by all States and the resources needed at national and international levels to ensure real and measurable results so that the challenges can be met.