The 2019 Ministerial Segment: Key Wins, Remaining Challenges, and Next Steps for Advocacy

Held only three years after the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs, the event was a critical moment for member states to define the next decade of UN drug policy. It was clear early on in this process that member states did not want to embark in lengthy negotiations for a new substantive policy document, and as a result most of the negotiations revolved around whether to focus the next 10 years of drug control on UNGASS implementation, or on a reaffirmation of the 2009 Political Declaration, or a mix of both. At the core of these discussions was a fundamental disagreement over whether or not to extend the 2009 goals to ‘significantly reduce or eliminate’ the illicit drug market, given the clear lack of progress towards achieving any reduction in the global drug trade.