2016

2016 Deguang High School

Model United Nations IX

DGMUN

Study Guide
I.

Committee Intro :

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

WELCOME, TO THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL.

ECOSOC is at the heart of the United Nations system to advance the three dimensions of
sustainable development economic, social and environmental. It is the central
platform for fostering debate and innovative thinking, forging consensus on ways forward,
and coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals. It is also responsible for
the follow-up to major UN conferences and summits.
*The UN Charter established ECOSOC in 1945 as one of the six main organs of the
United Nations.
*The current president: Oh Joon, UN ambassador of the Republic of Korea.
The ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and
social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to member
states and the United Nations system. A number of non-governmental
organizations have been granted consultative status to the Council to participate in the
work of the United Nations.

*Subsidiary

Bodies of ECOSOC

Regional Commissions

Functional Commissions

Economic Commission for

Africa (ECA)
Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the

Pacific (ESCAP)
Economic Commission for

Europe (ECE)
Economic Commission for

Latin America and the

Caribbean (ECLAC)
Economic and Social

Commission for Western

Asia (ESCWA)

Statistical Commission
Commission on Population and
Development
Commission for Social
Development
Commission on the Status of
Women
Commission on Narcotic Drugs
Commission on Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice
Commission on Science and
Technology for Development
United Nations Forum on Forests

II.

Topic introduction:

the World Drugs Problem

2015 World Drug Report

Drug Use
Drug use prevalence continues to be stable around the world, according to the 2015
World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It
is estimated that a total of 246 million people - slightly over 5 per cent of those aged
15 to 64 years worldwide - used an illicit drug in 2013. Some 27 million people are
problem drug users, almost half of whom are people who inject drugs. An estimated 1.65
million of people who inject drugs were living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) in 2013. Men are three times more likely than women to use cannabis, cocaine
and amphetamines, while women are more likely to misuse prescription opioids and
tranquillizers.
"There is no quick and simple remedy for
drug dependence and we need to invest in
long term, medical evidence-based
solutions."
- UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov

Illegal Drug Supply and Markets

Some 32.4 million people - or 0.7 per cent of the world's adult population - are users of
pharmaceutical opioids and opiates such as heroin and opium. In 2014, global potential
opium production reached 7,554 tons - the second highest level since the 1930s, mainly
due to its cultivation increasing significantly in Afghanistan, the main growing country.
The global seizures of heroin, meanwhile, increased by eight per cent, while illicit
morphine seizures decreased by 26 per cent from 2012 to 2013.
While maritime trafficking is not the most widely used mode of smuggling drugs, law
enforcement operations at sea have potentially the greatest impact as the average
volumes of seizures is proportionally higher. In the period 2009-2014, for instance, the
average for each seizure by sea was 365kg, while by land (road and rail) it was 107kg
and by air 10kg. The 2015 World Drug Report also notes a dynamic shift in the routes
used for smuggling opiates, with Afghan heroin reaching new markets. Recent seizures
suggest that it may have become more common for large shipments of Afghan heroin to
be smuggled across the Indian Ocean into East and Southern Africa. West Africa
continues to be a trans-shipment area for smuggling cocaine across the Atlantic into
Europe, and Eastern Europe is emerging as a transit area and as a destination for this
drug.

This year's World Drug Report indicates that coca bush cultivation continued to decline
in 2013, reaching the lowest level since 1990. With a global prevalence of 0.4 per cent
of the adult population, cocaine use remains high in Western and Central Europe, North
America and Oceania (Australia) though recent data shows a declining trend overall.
Cannabis use is on the rise and continues to be high in West and Central Africa, Western
and Central Europe, Oceania, and North America. Data for 2013 show an increase in the
quantities of cannabis herb and cannabis resin seized worldwide, reaching 5,764 and
1,416 tons respectively.
Methamphetamine dominates the global market for synthetic drugs, and is expanding in
East and South-East Asia. Crystalline methamphetamine use is increasing in parts of
North America and Europe. Seizures of ATS since 2009 - which have almost doubled to
reach over 144 tons in 2011 and 2012, and remained at a high level in 2013 - also point
to a rapid expansion in the global market. By December 2014, a total of 541 new
psychoactive substances which have negative health impact had been reported by 95
countries and territories - a 20 per cent increase compared to the previous year's figure
of 450.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Young Drug Culture

The most commonly used illegal drug is marijuana. According to
the United Nations 2008 World Drug Report, about 3.9% of the
worlds population between the ages of 15 and 64 abuse marijuana.

In Europe, recent studies among 15- and 16-year-olds suggest that

use of marijuana varies from under 10% to over 40%, with the
highest rates reported by teens in the Czech Republic (44%), and
followed by Ireland (39%), the UK (38%) and France (38%). In Spain
and the United Kingdom, cocaine use among 15- to 16-year-olds is
4% to 6%. Cocaine use among young people has risen in Denmark,
Italy, Spain, UK, Norway and France.
My goal in life wasnt living . . . it was getting high. Over the years,
I turned to cocaine, marijuana and alcohol under a false belief it
would allow me to escape my problems. It just made things worse.
I kept saying to myself, Im going to stop permanently after using
one last time. It never happened. John (Young Drugs Addict)

Drug Trafficking

Introduction
Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture,
distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug
prohibition laws. UNODC is continuously monitoring and researching global
illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of
their dynamics. Drug trafficking is a key part of this research. Further
information can be found in the yearly World Drug Report.
At current levels, world heroin consumption (340 tons) and seizures
represent an annual flow of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global heroin
market. Of that total, opium from Myanmar and the Lao People's
Democratic Republic yields some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons of
heroin and morphine, is produced exclusively from Afghan opium. While
approximately 5 tons are consumed and seized in Afghanistan, the
remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked worldwide via routes flowing into and
through the countries neighboring Afghanistan.
The Balkan and northern routes are the main heroin trafficking corridors
linking Afghanistan to the huge markets of the Russian Federation and
Western Europe. The Balkan route traverses the Islamic Republic of Iran
(often via Pakistan), Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria across South-East Europe
to the Western European market, with an annual market value of some $20
billion. The northern route runs mainly through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
(or Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan) to Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.
The size of that market is estimated to total $13 billion per year.

Key Terms and Definitions

Common Drugs Sorts

Marijuana
Heroin
Opium Papaver Somniferum / Poppy =
Morphine

Drug-Related Treaties

Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by

the 1972 Protocol
Commentary on the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961
Commentary on the Protocol Amending the Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs, 1961
Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971
Commentary on the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971
United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988
Commentary on the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988
The three major international drug control treaties are mutually
supportive and complementary. An important purpose of the first two
treaties is to codify internationally applicable control measures in
order to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic
substances for medical and scientific purposes, and to prevent their
diversion into illicit channels. They also include general provisions on
trafficking and drug abuse.

Past Actions on Dealing with Drugs Problems

The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS):
Background
The General Assembly is the principle policy-making organ of the United Nations.
At the request of member states, it convenes UN General Assembly Special Sessions
(UNGASS) on specific issues. There was an UNGASS on drugs in 1998 at which
member states agreed on a Political Declaration on Global Drug Control. Ten years
later, member states met in Vienna to discuss progress made and to agree on a
new Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards
an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem.

Civil society engagement

Here are a few ways civil society organizations can engage in the UNGASS process:

Support and join international reform organizations to strengthen their

influence in the international community and at the UN and to stay informed
about the process.

Join the New York NGO Committee on Drugs (NYNGOC) and/or the Vienna
NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) as it is likely that these committees will
be the formal civil society mechanisms for engaging in the UNGASS.

Educate public opinion on the structure of international drug policy politics

and decision-making, options for reform.

Lobby your government to promote more progressive drug policies during

international debates.

Send out a civil society submission to UNODC, which it will post on the civil
society page of its official UNGASS website.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime:

Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation
towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World
Drug Problem (Vienna, 11-12 March 2009)
Solutions examples,

Use existing legal instruments:

Strengthening resistance mechanisms among nations by using existing
instruments: the United Nations Conventions against crime and corruption.
8

Human rights, dignity and fundamental freedoms in the context of drug

demand reduction:
a. Ensure that drug demand reduction measures respect human rights and the
inherent dignity of all individuals and facilitate access for all drug users to
prevention services and health-care and social services, with a view to social
reintegration
b. Promote meaningful livelihood activities and employment to instil a sense of
purpose and self-esteem in individuals to steer them away from drugs
Targeting vulnerable groups and conditions:
a. Ensure that a broad range of drug demand reduction services, including those
in the areas of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and related support services,
provide approaches that serve the needs of vulnerable groups and are
differentiated on the basis of scientific evidence so that they respond best to the
needs of those groups, taking into account gender considerations and cultural
background
b. Ensure that prevention programs target and involve youth and children with a
view to increasing their reach and effectiveness
c. Provide specialized training for those who work with vulnerable groups, such as
patients with psychiatric co-morbidities, minors and women, including pregnant
women.
Drug use and dependence care in the criminal justice system:
Working within legal frameworks and in compliance with applicable
international law, consider allowing the full implementation of drug dependence
treatment and care options for offenders, in particular, when appropriate,
providing treatment as an alternative to incarceration.
Data collection, monitoring and evaluation:
a. Increase efforts in collecting data on the nature and extent of drug use and
dependence, including the characteristics of the population in need,
strengthening information and monitoring systems and employing
methodologies and instruments based on scientific evidence.
b. Ensure that drug use and dependence prevention and care interventions, as
well as other demand reduction measures, include adequate record-keeping
systems, while maintaining confidentiality, and that drug dependence care
record-keeping systems are part of an active system for monitoring the nature
and extent of the drug problem.

Questions to Consider
1. Previous past actions have already made important statements when it comes to
the issue. What are some elements that are worth improving or re-emphasizing?
2. Some of the obstacles have been incomplete implementation of policies, often due
to the incompletion of measures. What other restrictions or regulations can the
United Nations provide that can help improve the situation?

References
ECOSOC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Economic_and_Social_Council
https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/index.html?ref=menutop
UNGASS
https://www.unodc.org/ungass2016/en/about.html

Go Guys!!

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