"DRUG ABUSE"

The United Nations family in Vienna marked United Nations Charter Day on Friday with a virtual and actual gathering at the UN headquarters in the Austrian capital, and a commitment to work to fix the failings COVID-19 has exposed in our systems and social safety nets. UNIS VIENNA / FILE

Briefing Security Council, Afghanistan mission head expresses optimism government, Taliban will enter talks, concern over impact of COVID-19 on mandate.

Decades of neglect and underinvestment in addressing people’s mental health needs have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN said on Thursday, in a call for ambitious commitments from countries in the way they treat psychological illness, amid a potential spike in suicides and drug abuse. UNTV CH

Iván Duque Márquez, President of the Republic of Colombia, briefs press on the situation in the country.

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Drug use has caused some 585,000 deaths in 2017, while 35 million people in the world suffer from drug use disorders and require urgent services, according to a new United Nations (UN) report published Wednesday. UNIFEED

The High-Level Event “Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem” demonstrated international political will to enhance efforts to effectively address and counter the serious threats posed by the world drug problem. The President of the United States Donald J. Trump, U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guteres delivered remarks.

Launch of the 2018 World Drug Report by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the observance of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), briefs on launch of UNODC’s “2018 World Drug Report”