Day: July 1, 2022

UNODCs Field Offices, 1 July 2022 — The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, is marked on 26 June every year to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving a world free of drug abuse.

And each year, individuals, communities, and various organizations all over the world, from civil society to the private sector, join in to observe World Drug Day to help raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs pose to society.

The focus of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2022 was “Addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises”. Ensuring access to controlled medicines, guaranteeing evidence-based care, treatment and services, and preventing negative coping behaviours through support were among the calls to action highlighted both on the day and in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s World Drug Report 2022, launched last Monday.

Around the world on Monday 27 June, UNODC regional and support offices celebrated World Drug Day and presented the main findings of the World Drug Report 2022.

In Mexico City, UNODC’s Head of Coordination, Mariana Alegret, joined the National Commission Against Addiction’s annual virtual World Drug Day event, presenting the report to the press, drug policymakers and the general public. The event also heard from representatives of the ministries of health, public security and foreign affairs, as well as the Federal Prosecutor´s Office.

In Chisinau, Moldova, UNODC held a coffee morning with media, police, and civil society organizations (CSOs) where Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova explained that “apart from Covid-19 and the war in our neighbouring country, we are also fighting a drug use crisis, especially with new psychoactive substances”.

Through open discussions and a photo exhibition, journalists present at the event had the opportunity to get acquainted with the results of a collaboration between CSOs that provide socio-medical services to people who use drugs and the Chisinau police. Police deputy Alexei Grosu spoke about how the collaboration has helped to “change the mentality among the police towards drug users, who are now focusing on offering drug users the needed support by referring them to the CSOs who can provide socio-medical assistance.” UNODC’s Ina Tcaci underlined that such a collaboration was almost impossible a decade ago.

Constantin Cearanovski, representing the Positive Initiative CSO, told from his own experience how the police had played a positive role in motivating drug users toward treatment and rehabilitation, and Dr Lilia Fiodorov, narcologist at the Republican Narcology Dispensary, reported being able to aid 25 refugees who received drug treatment since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

In Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, UNODC commemorated World Drug Day with four days of events (June 25-29), joined by national authorities and CILAD, the interministerial committee for the fight against drugs (for its acronym in French). More than 250 participants attended the World Drug Report launch event last Monday, and more still joined online.

As the World Drug Report 2022 highlights, West and Central Africa is hard hit by the drug problem, despite having long being considered a mere transit zone. “In a context of health and humanitarian crises, West and Central Africa must continue to invest in data collection and analysis, disaggregated by sex and age, to strengthen early warning and evidence-based responses,” said Dr Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC director for the region, speaking at the event.

Côte d’Ivoire, like other West African coastal countries, is facing an influx of drugs trafficked from Latin America, as evidenced by recent cocaine seizures off the coast of Abidjan in March 2021 and April 2022. General Vagondo Diomandé, Minister of Interior and Security, spoke to this challenge: “The Ivorian authorities remain committed to combating illicit drug trafficking with the support of UNODC, as demonstrated by the drafting of a bill relating to the fight against trafficking and illicit use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, as well as the national strategy against organized crime.”

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

NEW YORK, 30 June (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) ? The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will hold its fifty-fifth session from 5 July to 19 August. The session will be held in person at United Nations Headquarters with the necessary risk-mitigating measures in place. The plenary parts of the session will be held from 25 to 29 July and from 8 to 12 August. The remaining five weeks will be devoted to the technical examination of submissions by established subcommissions in the Division’s premises, including geographic information systems laboratories and other technical facilities.

During the session, 10 subcommissions will continue to consider submissions made by the Russian Federation in respect of the Arctic Ocean (partial revised submission); Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Equatorial Margin (partial revised submission); France and South Africa jointly in respect of the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands; Kenya; Nigeria; Palau in respect of the North Area (partial amended submission); Sri Lanka; Portugal; Spain in respect of the area of Galicia (partial submission); and India.

Coastal States that had not yet presented their submissions to the Commission were invited to present them at the plenary part of the session. To date, the following submitting States accepted the invitation: Malaysia (partial submission in the South China Sea); Chile (partial submissions in respect of the Eastern Continental Shelf of Easter Island Province and in respect of the Western Continental Shelf of the Chilean Antarctic Territory, respectively); Indonesia (partial submission in the area Southwest of Sumatera); and Ecuador (partial submission in the Southern Region of the Carnegie Ridge).

Furthermore, the Chair will inform the Commission about relevant deliberations that took place at the thirty-second Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Background

Established pursuant to article 2, annex II to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Commission is a body of 21 experts in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography. They serve in their personal capacities. Members of the Commission are elected for a term of five years by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention from among their nationals having due regard to the need to ensure equitable geographical representation. Not less than three members shall be elected from each geographical region. Currently, one seat on the Commission continues to be vacant due to the lack of nominations from the Eastern European Group of States.

The Convention provides that the State party which submitted the nomination of a member of the Commission shall defray the expenses of that member while in performance of Commission duties. However, the participation of several members of the Commission from developing countries has been facilitated by financial assistance from a voluntary trust fund for the purpose of defraying the cost of participation of the members of the Commission from developing countries.

Under rule 23 of its rules of procedure (Public and private meetings), the meetings of the Commission, its subcommissions and subsidiary bodies are held in private, unless the Commission decides otherwise.

The Commission makes recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, based on information submitted to it by coastal States. These recommendations are based on the scientific and technical data and other material provided by States in relation to the implementation of article 76 of the Convention. The recommendations do not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts, or prejudice the position of States that are parties to a land or maritime dispute, or application of other parts of the Convention or any other treaties. The limits of the continental shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of these recommendations shall be final and binding. In the case of disagreement by the coastal State with the recommendations of the Commission, the coastal State shall, within a reasonable time, make a revised or new submission to the Commission.

As required under the rules of procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all the submissions, including all charts and coordinates, have been made public by the Secretary General through continental shelf notifications circulated to Member States of the United Nations, as well as States parties to the Convention. The executive summaries are available on the Division’s website at www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm. The summaries of recommendations adopted by the Commission are also available on the above-referenced website.

For additional information on the work of the Commission, please visit the website of the Division at www.un.org/depts/los/index.htm. In particular, the most recent statements by the Chair on the progress in the work of the Commission are available at www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/commission_documents.

Source: United Nations