Uruguay Delegation Plenary Speech Unofficial Translation (Katherine Pettus)

Vienna, March 21, 2014, 57th session of the CND 
I shall explain our position on the UNGASS resolution.

• The world drug problem is complex. Simplistic, one size fits all approaches are inappropriate.  This is why we have always said, in this very hall, that it should be discussed at the highest level, in the most diverse international fora, and from many different perspectives.The new alternative approaches should be discussed.
• As a CND member state, we understand that the exercise must be broad, inclusive, and critical, supporting the development of knowledge, and contributing to the evidence-based science on this complex topic, thereby significantly promoting the health and welfare of mankind.
• That is why it makes sense to call for a special session of the UN.  That is why we have supported Mexico’s initiative from the start, to not have yet another annual CND meeting within the current framework.

• Over and above its political relevance, it is our hope that UNGASS 2016 will rise above the administrative and bureaucratic business-as-usual attitudes, and above all, business as usual thinking. It should be a process characterized by the active participation of UN agencies such as WHO, FAO, PNUD, High Commissioner for Human Rights, the scientific and academic communities, civil society, regional organizations and a genuine expression of diversity.
• In this context, the OAS report delivered to the Summit of heads of state in Cartagena will be a basic contribution to the leadup discussion of UNGASS 2016.
•  CND must take a leading role in this process, given that the UNGA is the central forum for the expression of humanity and expressing its diversity through consensus and cooperation.
• Uruguay made the sovereign decision to define an alternative model for drug policy.  We have said repeatedly that this might not be for everyone. We want a political debate because the principle of common and shared responsibility obliges us to explore alternative strategies to the interpretion of the Conventions that brought us the “war on drugs.
• We want the debate in order to ensure that human rights treaties are properly aligned with the drug control regime, to ensure a truly balanced strategy, and ensure the right to health currently denied to millions of people: the right to life, liberty, and security, which does not mean rejecting rational and proportional law enforcement measures to combat organized crime.
• We need a broad and diverse debate without roadblocks or taboos.

Original speech in Spanish available here: http://www.cndblogspanish.org/2014/03/delegacion-de-uruguay-en-el-plenario.html