Day 2 continued with general statements in the plenary and two roundtable discussions. The roundtable on demand reduction was heavily subscribed to and reflects the member states’ keen interest in the topic. Three Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were given slots for this -- CEDRO from Lima, Peru; IFNGO from Macau and CIJ from Mexico. While NGOs again had to wait until the very end to speak -- and in this case without interpretation -- their comments made a forceful impact on attending member states.
Mr. Costa indicated that he was open to having a dialogue session with the NGOs present. David Turner and I quickly took advantage of this opportunity. The dialogue session, which was held in the new press briefing room, was filled to capacity. One of our objectives for this event was to stress the need for dialogue. We also wanted participants to focus their questions on issues related specifically to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) mandate. We knew many NGOs were upset with the Political Declaration and having Mr. Costa in their sights would have made a convenient target, but the truth is he had no responsibility or role in the preparation of that product -- a point I made clear at the outset. I added that NGOs that did wish to object to the Political Declaration should do so via their member states.
After a rocky start, Mr. Costa and the group settled into a productive dialogue. Representatives from OSI, CADCA, IHRA and Breaking the Chains all spoke. With the questions focused more specifically on issues relevant to UNODC, Mr. Costa provided some much-appreciated candor, insight and commitment to the various NGO concerns -- from a last minute editing concern on the Political Declaration to his views on UNODC's commitment to pursuing harm reduction initiatives and the launch of a much-welcomed global UNODC/WHO project on drug treatment standards (another Beyond 2008 recommendation). The discussion ran 25 minutes longer than planned and I can say without reservation that I thought it was one of our best dialogues with Mr. Costa.
The length of the meeting caused me to be late for another meeting with the acting US Drug Czar Ed Jurith. However, he was gracious about the delay and we had a very positive and free-flowing discussion. We covered a lot of ground including demand reduction, the role of NGOs at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and prospects for the future.
I very much appreciated this meeting and the likely role June Sivilli of ONDCP had in setting it up. Some of you may recall June was the subject of intense and frankly uncalled for attention and criticism during the Beyond 2008 global forum in July last year. No need to repeat what shouldn't have been said in the first place, but June's passion for drug demand reduction and her sincere interest in NGOs resonated at the meeting. Time well spent indeed.
I then had to hustle back to the plenary to deliver the sole NGO intervention of the High Level Segment (HLS). Upon arrival I saw that there remained 10 countries ahead of me followed by four international government organizations (WHO, UNAIDS, the European Commission and the Sovereign Order of Malta. The time kept ticking on and it became obvious to all that we might well run out of time before I could speak. A quick chat with the head of the CND Secretariat confirmed that the session would extend however long it took to allow me to speak. It was about 18:15 when I finally found myself sitting in the "next speaker seat" listening to the gentleman from the Order of Malta deliver his remarks.
Waiting there during his 5-minute slot gave me time to reflect. I thought of the impossibility of being the lone NGO speaker in an event as important as this for global drug policy. How in the world could I even come close to representing the interests of the hundreds of NGOs who had all contributed their time and energy to this unprecedented Beyond 2008? (For more information on the contribution NGOs made through Beyond 2008 see my recent interview with UNODC's Raggie Johansen).
I thought of one NGO representative I met in Macau who hailed from a southeast Asian country and simply said to us "Save us - they are killing us.” No drama, just the facts. I thought of the unlikely partnerships that were born through this work - of those in Latin America and Eastern Europe to name a few. I thought of all the NGOs in the room likely thinking "just don't blow it for us!" And then before I knew it the kind hostess was guiding me to the podium. As I was climbing the steps Mr. Costa, who had arrived for the closing ceremony, gave me a fist in the air gesture of encouragement. Welcome indeed.
Delivering remarks to 1,400 people and 130 countries is an interesting experience to say the least. First off, don't take it personally if half the room is talking. So I spoke a wee bit louder to add to the cacophony. The green light said I was good to go and the 5 minute lead counter was ticking down. It was already -5 seconds before I got into gear and read my statement. I tried to emphasize the points that I knew were of keen interest to all, and indeed I heard a smattering of applause at one point when I said the CND had a long way to go in improving relations with NGOs. While the overall tone was of some disappointment as to the lack of vision and inspiration in the Political Declaration, we did stress a forward-looking agenda and opportunity to implement specific strategies to address these gaps (best heed my own advice of showing up with solutions if criticizing...). The yellow light came on -- 1 minute left -- focus...then it was the blinking red light - I was out of time but the mike stayed on nonetheless. I finished my last line at 17 seconds over time. Reasonable. I came down off the podium and was looking for signs of open hostility or approval! The first person I saw was an Indian colleague who had a broad smile and two thumbs up. Promising.
Over the next hour I received many kind remarks, but most importantly I think everyone saw a bit of what they wanted said in the text. Kudos again to my dear friend and colleague David Turner who helped shape this document.
Being the last speaker, we now moved to the adoption of the Political Declaration, which was quickly gaveled by consensus. Well, that was too easy. Then the representative from Germany raised his flag (really just the name plate) and asked for the floor. He indicated that he was speaking on behalf of several countries which he listed - 26 in fact - and stated that their group wanted an annotation to the annex indicating that for their purposes the term "related support services", the euphemism used in the Political Declaration for harm reduction, meant harm reduction. The chairperson accepted the change and immediately those opposed waded in saying this was out of order and inappropriate given that the Political Declaration had already been adopted. It went back and forth a few times but quicky fizzled out. The amendment stood.
Mr. Costa delivered his closing remarks and redeemed himself fully from having omitted NGOs in his opening statement. His speech spoke clearly and eloquently of the role and value of NGOs, of the intervention I had made, and the contributions of Beyond 2008 to the future of drug policy. It was well appreciated by all NGOs present.
Then it was all over, everyone fleeing the room in search of fresh air and dinner. With the 2009 High Level Segment (HLS) behind us, only time will tell what this magnum opus will yield.
I want to reflect a bit further on what this all means for me and will post a final entry to this blog shortly, but for now - that's how I saw Day 2 go down.
A good day's work!
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