COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS MEETS IN VIENNA, 15 -22 MARCH

COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS MEETS IN VIENNA, 15 -22 MARCH

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 11 March (UN Information Service) –- This year’s forty-seventh session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), from 15-22 March 2004 at the Vienna International Centre, will discuss –- among other issues -- the production, trafficking and abuse of synthetic drugs and how to strengthen the control of precursor chemicals and to prevent the diversion of and trafficking in such chemicals.

Also on the agenda are:  drug demand reduction –- HIV/AIDS in the context of drug abuse; and illicit drug trafficking and supply –- world situation.

The following media events will take place at various locations in the Vienna International Centre (VIC):

MONDAY, 15 March 13:00 hours. Press Briefing Room C03

Subject:  CND -- activities and agenda

On the opening day of the session, Monday, Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Ambassador Alfred T. Moleah (South Africa) Chairman, Commission on Narcotic Drugs, will brief the media on the activities and agenda of the CND.

MONDAY, 15 March 14:00 hours. UNIDO Boardroom CO4

Subject:  New Swedish anti-drug strategy

Anika Söder, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden, will present her Government’s new anti-drug strategy aimed at strengthening its cooperation with the anti-drugs efforts of the United Nations.

TUESDAY, 16 March 15:30 hours. Press Briefing Room C03

Subject:  Signing of Memorandum of Understanding between UNODC and Europol

Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, UNODC, and Jürgen Storbeck, Director, Europol, will issue statements on the cooperation agreement between the two agencies.

THURSDAY, 18 March 14:00 hours. UNIDO Boardroom CO4

Subject:  Frontline Report -- Photos from Colombia and Central Asia

Italian journalist/photographer Alessandro Scotti presents pictures of the real-life struggle against illicit drugs.

For more information, contact United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS), P.O. Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria; tel.:  (+43-1) 26060 4666, fax:  (+43-1) 26060 5899, e-mail:  UNIS@unvienna.org; Visit our home page: www.unis.unvienna.org

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