Measures to support African States in their efforts to combat the world drug problem
Kenya: Wants to delete paragraph 8, which is a delete of paragraph 5. We agreed to drop the setting up of a fund to support African States, but we hope that this will be discussed in the future.
Lebanon: On behalf of the Group of 77: the Group co-sponsors this resolution. We believe that efforts from African countries need support by the international community.
UK: We consider support to African States as a priority. We thank the African group for undertaking this resolution.
Preambular part
Russian Federation: PP4 – change ‘Reaffirming’ rather than ‘welcoming’ or ‘Taking note with appreciation’. Kenya agreed for ‘Taking note with appreciation’.
Surinam – PP5 should be deleted. Kenya: replace ‘recalling’ by ‘concluding’.
Operative part
OP4 (b): on the mention of cannabis only in this paragraph: informal discussions took place on the issue, and considerable debates continued throughout the Committee of the Whole sessions:
Zimbabwe: Need clarification as to why the text refers to cannabis particularly.
Algeria: I want to remind our colleagues from the EU that this text comes from long consultations and discussions, but we are prepared to repeat the clarifications already set out: in the reports of the appropriate body and UNODC, cannabis is named as the most widely trafficked and seized drug worldwide and in Africa. This is why we insisted on emphasizing cannabis in this paragraph. Health problems in Africa are also mainly caused by cannabis consumption. I hope that the representative of the African Union will agree to the compromise reached during informal consultations.
Zimbabwe: This problem needs constant attention, and here we need to focus on particular issues. The African Group wishes to focus on cannabis because it has not been given the attention it deserves. First, we wanted to have an entire paragraph on cannabis, but in the spirit of compromise, we have decided to include all drugs, including cannabis.
Norway: We are confused about that wording because cocaine is also widely used. Spain agrees with Norway. Spain does not want to simply look at cannabis here but open it to other countries. Morocco agrees also with Norway and Spain. We attach great importance of this resolution, but the mentioning of just one drug is not comprehensive. The title refers to the ‘world drug problem’, so this should be broader than cannabis. The formulation of this paragraph is purely motivated by political reasons.
Concerted proposal: ‘Assist African countries to address the health problems associated with abuse of all drugs, in particular cannabis’, for the reasons stated by Algeria.
UK: We would prefer a more generic approach, but we do not seem to say that we want to address health problems only in relation to cannabis, but in relation to every drug.
Mexico: We are supporting the UK’s proposal. Public health issues should be tackled in a holistic way. Perhaps, the solution is there.
Portugal: We were aware of concerns of being flexible in the matters during the informal meeting. We welcome the balanced approach put forward by South Africa.
Morocco: The proposal does not address the concerns of Morocco. ‘according to the reports of INCB 2010 and UNODC World Drug Report 2010’.
Kenya: Surprised by Morocco about this, since we have already discuss the issue comprehensively. But if Morocco insists, we can include more words and introduce a new text to the COW. I support the South African proposal supported by the UK and Portugal.
Namibia: The issue of cannabis is of particular importance for us.
France: We are trying to find a compromise solution to avoid differing it from the Plenary. A solution would be to add: ‘notably, cocaine, cannabis and synthetic drugs’.
Algeria: Informal consultations were held on Monday to aim to avoid such an exercise at the Committee of the Whole. We hoped we were working on a constructive effort. For African States, it is clear that all drugs are important, but it is clear that the situation demonstrates the importance of cannabis. I appeal to all delegations to reflect to reflect the concerns of an entire region – cannabis. We simply mean to convey what Africa asks the CND to address.
The chair asked the delegates to meet informally to solve the problem.
Algeria: Holding informal consultations is not acceptable to my delegation: we have deferred the presentation of L10 because of the informals. If we can adopt the paragraph as it stands, it is our dearest wish. Otherwise, we do not think we can hold informal consultations.
South Africa: I support what Algeria has just said. We can discuss in the plenary, but regarding informals, we have done our best so far.
The discussions were postponed for 10 minutes.