Negotiating the UNGASS Outcome Document: Challenges and the Way Forward

As the preparations for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs are well underway, the negotiation process has begun for the official outcome document that will be adopted at the Special Session in April. This outcome document should, according to the UN General Assembly, be a ‘short, substantive, concise and action-oriented document comprising a set of operational recommendations… including an assessment of the achievements as well as ways to address long-standing and emerging challenges in countering the world drug problem’. 

This IDPC advocacy note offers some reflections and recommendations on the negotiation process itself, and some general recommendations on the overarching tone that should be reflected in the final document.