24 Jun 2011

UN / DRUGS AND PEACE WRAP

The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yury Fedotov told the Security Council today that crisis situations such as recent events in the Middle East, Somalia or Afghanistan, “all starkly demonstrate the ability of transnational organized crime and its proceeds to destabilize transitions, disrupt political processes and obstruct development.” UNTV

Posted at: June 24, 2011 5:04 pm

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STORY: UN / DRUGS AND PEACE WRAP
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 2.19
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 24 JUNE 2011, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior UN building

24 JUNE 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Wide shot, Security Council
3.	Med shot, delegates
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
"Many crisis situations under consideration by the Security Council, such as recent events in the Middle East, the Somalia situation of the piracy phenomenon, or Afghanistan, and I could name a few more, all starkly demonstrate the ability of transnational organized crime and its proceeds to destabilise transitions, disrupt political processes, and obstruct development."
5.	Med shot, delegates
SOUNDBITE (English) Philip Parham, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations:
"Worldwide, the figures are staggering, with the international drugs market alone estimated to be worth 320 billion dollars. The United Nations estimates that the most powerful international organised crime syndicates can earn one-and-a-half billion dollars a year. In practice this means criminal groups having access to resources many times those of the countries in which they operate."
6.	Med shot, delegates
7.	SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Fernando Alzate, Deputy Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations:
"We are convinced that the efforts of a single State are not sufficient to face these crimes and their multidimensional and transnational condition. It is not possible to combat these criminal manifestations with isolated efforts. What are required are strategic alliances that allow nations to advance together towards a more secure society."
8.	Zoom out, Security Council
9.	Wide shot, press conference dais
10.	Med shot, journalists
11.	SOUNDBITE (Spanish):
"We could say, in a perhaps more understandable way, that this is like divorcing and then remarrying, only without having to take care of the mother-in-law. We are renouncing to the Convention to then re-adhere on the same day, but with reservations about coca leaf chewing."
12.	Wide shot, journalists
13.	Wide shot, dais

STORYLINE:

Illicit drugs and transnational organized crime can undercut security and development in countries and across regions, a top United Nations (UN) official told the Security Council today (24 June) stressing the need for concerted action to tackle these growing threats.

Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told a meeting of the Security Council that many crisis situations under consideration by the Security Council, such as recent events in the Middle East, the piracy phenomenon in Somalia, or Afghanistan, "all starkly demonstrate the ability of transnational organized crime and its proceeds to destabilise transitions, disrupt political processes, and obstruct development."

He pointed out that drug trafficking is fuelling a global criminal enterprise worth hundreds of billions of dollars that seriously impact on development and security.

British Ambassador Philip Parham said that "worldwide, the figures are staggering" and noted that the international illicit drugs market alone is estimated to be worth 320 billion dollars and the most powerful international organised crime syndicates can earn one-and-a-half billion dollars a year.

He said that "in practice this means criminal groups having access to resources many times those of the countries in which they operate."

The Council's meeting on the impact of transnational organized crime and trafficking on global peace, security and development comes a day after the launch of the 2011 World Drug Report, which highlighted the fact that the global drug threat has not diminished.

The report, produced by the Vienna-based UNODC, found that while global markets for cocaine, heroin and cannabis declined or remained stable, the production and abuse of prescription opioid drugs and new synthetic drugs rose.

Colombian Ambassador Fernando Alzate, whose own country has had to deal with criminal drug organizations for decades, said that "the efforts of a single State are not sufficient to face these crimes and their multidimensional and transnational condition."

He added that "it is not possible to combat these criminal manifestations with isolated efforts" and "strategic alliances that allow nations to advance together towards a more secure society" are required.

Meanwhile, Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon held a press conference to announce that his country was renouncing and then rejoining the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, in order to include a reservation with respect to coca leaf chewing.

He told journalists that "this is like divorcing and then remarrying, only without having to take care of the mother-in-law."

Coca leaf chewing is a centuries old tradition in Bolivia and in the Andean region; it does not produce the negative effects of processed cocaine and is regularly used by the majority of the population.