In the final document of the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem, adopted in 2016, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to respect, protect and promote human rights, fundamental freedoms, the inherent dignity of all people and the supremacy of law in the development and the implementation of the drug policy. We fully endorse this recommendation being deeply convinced that the true progress towards a drugs free world is directly related to ensuring human rights and protecting the dignity of people. Moreover, the Russian delegation has always stated that delivering the world free from a narcotic illness is one of the most important human rights. Accordingly, States should make every effort and cooperate with each other with a view to guarantee the practical realization of this right. We are guided by this ideology in the context of the implementation of the decisions of the 2016 UNGASS and we intend to follow the same course with regard to the next year's comprehensive review of the implementation of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action of 2009. The three UN Drug Conventions, the centrality of which was confirmed by the international community in 2016, remain the guiding thread in this process.

We proceed from the fact that the “Geneva segment” should fully support the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs as the policymaking body of the UN system with the prime responsibility for drug control matters. We would like to note that the key role of the Commission as regards the UN anti-drug activities was once again clearly confirmed in the letter sent to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 23, 2018 on behalf of 22 Member States.

The resolution on the protection of children from the threat of illicit drugs adopted by 61st session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs at the initiative of Russia, recognizes that an environment free of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking is conducive to the development and well-being of children and, therefore, meets the best interests of the child. We hope that the relevant “Geneva segments” will contribute to the implementation of this resolution as well as to save the children from the drug threat. We consider this task no less important than the protection of younger generation from armed conflicts or from sexual exploitation.

In December 2017 an important international conference "Parliamentarians Against Drugs" was held in Moscow. The final declaration of this well-attended forum recognizes the invaluable contribution of civil society to the efficient public capacity-building to counter the spread of narcotic hazards, including reducing their impact on women, children and young people. We believe that the existing UN fora, which unite and consolidate the efforts of civil society, should not be left out and should contribute to the advancement towards a drugs free world. We expect this issue to be fully reflected in subsequent initiatives in the follow-up to the decisions taken in Moscow. We intend to help in every way to achieve this goal. By the way, the online forum "Marketplace" launched by Russia proved to be a very effective platform for interaction between representatives of civil society on anti-drug issues.

We are convinced that the consolidation of the UN mechanism in the anti-drug field will help create an effective antidote to the global narcotic disease and thereby contribute to the realization of the goals and objectives of the UN Charter, as well as to the ideals laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.