FDFE and Foundation Mejora co-sponsored by the Green Crescent (Turkey), La Vida (Madrid) and VFV (Austria) organized a side-event on March 3rd during the 63rd Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna.
The 63rd CND (2-6 March 2020) started by the presentation of the new UNODC Executive Director: H.E. Ms. Ghada Waly from Egypt, and of the new Chairperson of the Commission: H.E. Mr. Mansoor Ahmad Khan from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This was followed by statements by the Director of Treaty Affairs, the CND President and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) President.
An important statement was made: that there will be no decision taken regarding a possible re-scheduling of the cannabis during this CND, so all the three International Drug Control Conventions (1961, 1971, 1988) as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 33 are still fully in force.
The FDFE side-event was held between 8:00 and 8:50 on March 3, room M7.
The title was: Supporting Effective Drug Education and Prevention Initiatives
The speakers and their presentations: Dr. Christian Mirre (Foundation MEJORA and FDFE), Moderator, introduced the subject, the FDFE and its relation with the 100 of Say No To Drugs groups in Europe, presented the FDFW (Drug Free World) education materials and reminded the different International Conventions. Then he introduced the speakers:
Dr. Olena Shcherbakova, Ph,D in Psychological Sciences is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Children and Adolescents Health Care of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. Author of more than 80 scientific publications, textbook and guidelines, her research themes are: personality formation, prevention of children addictive behavior, collaboration with parents, psychological and pedagogical support. She has 15 years of experience as school psychologist. Title: Parents and School Cooperation on Prevention of Children’s Abusive Behavior.
Mr, Alain Luciani, is currently V/President of the Council Commission V: Territorial, Environment and Infrastructure Policies of the City Hall of Padova (Italy). With regards to the quality of life and well-being of his constituents he has a serious concern for the protection of the youth and the whole population from the harmfulness of drug use. Title: #DrugFreePadua – Dreamer, yes, but with practical program and tools. *Due to the Covid-19 developing in Italy, he was represented by the Moderator who gave his presentation and powerpoint.
Ms. Cigdem Bayram, is D/Manager of Education Management Department of Turkish Green Crescent with a focus on program development, training, dissemination of prevention efforts at school and community levels. She has 18 years of experience in humanitarian operations and is currently carrying out school and community based addiction prevention programs and improving educational kits for development of life skills and also dealing with gambling problems. Title: Green Crescent School Based Intervention Programs Within the Perspective of Prevention.
Mr. Robert Galibert, French retired Biochemist Analyst has accumulated 37 years of hospital experiences. He is currently representing FDFE. For some two decades he is a trainer in drug prevention education and is delivering across the world lectures to raise the awareness of youth and people on the harmful effects of drug use. Title: Prevention: Cannabis in all its states.
More: -The Green Crescent (co-sponsor) team included the announce of the side-event in a general promotional leaflet for the celebration of their 100th year “To many healthy generations.”
-At the Opening Reception organized by the UNODC Executive Director, the FDFE (Christian) and Say No To Drugs Belgium (Julie) Representatives with the Dr. Shcherbakova had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the new Executive Director and talk about the importance of drug prevention education for the youth.
Later on, FDFE Representative had a nice exchange with the Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA – Lisbon) on the usefulness of the data and figures provided by his Office.
Thank you for your interest !