17 Nov 2022
Mr Chair,
1 Singapore is vulnerable to the scourge of drugs. We are a small and densely populated city-state near major drug production centres. We take the world drug problem seriously, and remain firmly committed to tackling this threat in close partnership with the international community. This is why we have consistently joined consensus on the omnibus resolution in the Third Committee entitled ‘International cooperation to address and counter the world drug problem’.
2 However, we have serious concerns about the new resolution before us this year, entitled ‘Addressing and countering the world drug problem through a comprehensive, integrated and balanced approach’. Despite our efforts to engage constructively during the informal negotiations, the resolution remains imbalanced, and does not adequately reflect the severity of the drug problem. We wish to highlight three key concerns.
3 First, the resolution before us cherry-picks language from earlier resolutions and omits key references that ought to be included in a resolution on the world drug problem. In particular, OP1 of the omnibus resolution last year which reaffirmed important and inter-governmentally agreed documents, inter alia, the 2019 Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening Our Actions at the National, Regional and International Levels to Accelerate the Implementation of Our Joint Commitments to Address and Counter the World Drug Problem, as well as the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem, was omitted. The reinstatement of OP1 had received wide support during the informal consultations. We see no reason for it to be left out in this year’s resolution.
4 Second, we believe that a resolution on addressing and countering the world drug problem should focus, first and foremost, on dealing with the harm that drug abuse and trafficking inflicts on our societies. The text does not adequately reflect this, and places an undue emphasis on the human rights of drug abusers at the expense of other equally important elements, including public safety, criminal justice, and law enforcement cooperation.
5 Third, negotiations this year have also been plagued by procedural issues. From the outset, many delegations, including Singapore, understood that the facilitator was updating the omnibus resolution. It was only later that the facilitator informed delegations that they were tabling an entirely new resolution, and that the omnibus resolution would not be tabled this year. This created needless confusion and difficulties for delegations. A change of this significance should have been communicated clearly and well before the negotiations started. We regret that this was not done.
6 For these reasons, Singapore ABSTAINED in the vote on this resolution. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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