Beyond 2008: Final Declaration and Resolutions
The "Beyond 2008" NGO Forum was held in Vienna, Austria from July 7-9, 2008. It was the final step in the global consultation of NGOs involved in responding to drug related problems and to provide civil society input for the 10-year UNGASS review. Three draft resolutions and the draft declaration were subject to a line by line examination and intense debate. At the end of the Forum the Declaration and three Resolutions were adopted by consensus by all those participating in the Forum. This was an historic achievement and reflected the maturity and commitment of the global NGO community.
On the website of the Vienna NGO Committee (VNGOC) the process of Beyond 2008 NGO consultations is explained.
The documents will be translated into all six UN languages but at present are only available in English. The Declaration and Resolutions can be downloaded here.
On the third day time was given over to considering new text which had been submitted by participants. In the time available it was not possible to consider all the new proposals. However, for transparency and to allow future consideration of these additional texts, they can be downloaded here.
Some interesting reports on the proceedings by participating NGOs are listed here:
- Beyond 2008: a truly remarkable event – TNI weblog by Martin Jelsma, July 12, 2008
- Three Days in Ten Minutes - 10 minute video interviewing the participants by HCLU, July 21, 2008
- Day 1: Beyond 2008 NGO Forum on Drugs: Harm Reduction receives broad support – HR2 blog International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), July 7, 2008
- Dispatch from Vienna: First Day of the United Nations’ Forum on International Drug Policy - Graham Boyd, ACLU Drug Law Reform Project, July 9, 2008
- Day 2: Beyond 2008 NGO Forum on Drugs: 'Harm Reduction' language adopted over opposition of prohibitionists – HR2 blog International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), July 8, 2008
- Day 2 - Beyond 2008 NGO Forum on Drugs: NGOs call upon CND to abandon 'The Spirit of Vienna' – HR2 blog International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), July 8, 2008
- Dispatch from Vienna, Day Two: A Spy in the House - Graham Boyd, ACLU Drug Law Reform Project, July 9, 2008
- Day 3 - Beyond 2008 NGO Forum on Drugs: NGO Declaration approved with strong harm reduction and human rights content – HR2 blog International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), July 10, 2008
- Dispatch from Vienna, Day Three: A Global Consensus for Drug Policy Reform - Graham Boyd, ACLU Drug Law Reform Project, July 10, 2008
- Beyond 2008: Global Civil Society Tells the UN It's Time to Fix International Drug Policy – Drug War Chronicle, July 18, 2008
