Ministerial Segment of the 62nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs Held in Vienna

1. Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Home Affairs, attended and participated in the Ministerial Segment of the 62 ^nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna, Austria from 14-15 March 2019.  She was accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Central Narcotics Bureau, Singapore Prison Service and Health Sciences Authority. The Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA) also attended the 62 ^nd CND meeting in its capacity as a Non-Governmental Organisation and organised an exhibition and side event.

2. The CND meets annually to discuss the world drug problem, develop strategies on international drug control, and recommend measures to address the world drug problem. A key outcome of the 62 ^nd Session was the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration that took stock of the implementation of the various international commitments to tackle the world drug problem since 2009, particularly those set out in the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action. The Ministerial Declaration also reaffirmed collective determination to promote a society free of drug abuse and the need for the global community to strengthen cooperation to respond to new and evolving challenges posed by illicit drugs in conformity with the three international drug control conventions, particularly to address the links between drug trafficking, corruption and other forms of organised crime.

3. Minister Teo delivered Singapore’s national statement which explained Singapore’s harm prevention approach to keep our country drug-free and underscored the importance of international cooperation to counter the global drug problem. She was also a panellist in the High-Level Thematic Roundtable on the topic of “Safeguarding the Future”, which saw an exchange of ideas on possible approaches to enhance international cooperation against drug abuse.

4. During the visit, Minister Teo launched an exhibition by SANA, which showcased its work to reintegrate former drug abusers into society. Minister Teo also held bilateral meetings with several foreign delegates, including Ms Kirsten Madison, Special Representative of the US Secretary of State for the CND; Mr Igor Zubov, Russian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs; Mr Dmitry Kostennikov, Russian Deputy Minister, State Secretary for Health; Mr Wei Xiaojun, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Narcotics Control Commission of China and Deputy Director-General of the Narcotics Control Bureau; Mr Abubakar Malami San, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Nigeria; Ms Gwen Nightingale, Head of Drugs and Alcohol Unit of the UK; Mr Prajin Juntong, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister of Thailand; and Mr Marco Balazero, Peruvian Director-General for Multilateral and Global Affairs and Ms Nora Romero Kronig, Ambassador, Vice Director and Head of International Affairs Division, Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. She also met Mr Yury Fedotov, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Mr Viroj Sumyai, President of the International Narcotics Control Board. During her meeting with Mr Fedotov, Minister Teo reaffirmed the strong cooperation between Singapore and the UNODC in the fight against drugs and crime, and emphasised the importance of bilateral cooperation to identify and tackle cross-border crime, and to address the emergence of new drugs and criminal methods of operation.

5. This year, Mr Javier Ng Jing Xuan, a 17-year-old student from ITE Central and the Central Narcotics Bureau’s Anti-Drug Advocate, participated in the UNODC Annual Youth Forum 2019 as Singapore’s Youth Advocate. This forum brought together youths from different countries who are involved in drug abuse prevention and health promotion work, to exchange ideas on how to better educate their peers on the harms of drugs.

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

16 MARCH 2019