Call for Speakers: CND Thematic Intersessional September 2022
At its 62nd session in March 2019 the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) adopted by consensus the Ministerial Declaration entitled “Strengthening Our Actions at the National, Regional and International Levels to Accelerate the Implementation of our Joint Commitments to Address and Counter the World Drug Problem”. (https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CND/2019/Ministerial_Declaration.pdf)
Following the format used for the thematic discussions held within the CND since 2016, Member States developed a multi-year workplan and will hold, every autumn, inter-active meetings aiming to address the challenges identified in the “stock taking”- part of the Ministerial Declaration. The complete workplan is available here: https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CND/2019/Follow-up_to_2019_Ministerial_Declaration/Intersessional_Meetings/CND_Workplan_2019-2023.pdf
The fourth of these thematic interessionals will take place September 21-22, in Vienna, Austria. The meeting will be held in a hybrid format, combining an in-person component with online participation.
The meeting will cover the following topics:
"that responses not in conformity with the three international drug control conventions and not in conformity with applicable international human rights obligations pose a challenge to the implementation of joint commitments based on the principle of common and shared responsibility;"
Day 1 (21 September) will likely focus on the drug control conventions, Day 2 (22 September) will likely focus on human rights obligations.
For each day up to 5 NGOs will have the possibility to present their work and positioning. In order to ensure an inclusive, comprehensive and meaningful civil society participation, NGOs will work through the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) which has been requested to coordinate contributions.
Each speaker will have 3-5 minutes to present their work on the thematic focus of the day. Selected speakers will be asked to send in their statements and videos (including. Transcripts) no later than 13 SEPTEMBER 2022. Interpretation will not be available during the meetings and all abstracts and statements have to be submitted in English.
In order to apply for a speaking slot, please fill out the below form. DEADLINE: 22 August 2022 at 11:45 p.m. (CEST, Vienna local time).
Make sure that your abstract is relevant to the topic of the event, and clearly describes what you will be presenting about. Statements focusing on good practice examples and/or implementation of the commitments are especially welcome.
The VNGOC Board will follow the speaking selection guidelines established in 2018 (https://bit.ly/3yCrUYa).
Note that the names, emails and abstracts of successful candidates will be shared with the UNODC Secretariat of Governing Bodies (UNODC SGB).
Please don't hesitate to contact info [at] vngoc [dot] org (info[at]vngoc[dot]org) for any questions.
