The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies congratulates the Commission on the decision that there should be a thematic debate concentrated on the twin themes of community capacity-building and preventing HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne diseases in the context of drug abuse prevention.
These are themes which are at the heart of the work of all our National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, everywhere in the world.
Several challenging questions were posed for this debate by the intersessional working group which helped prepare for this debate. I will now set out some short contributions on each of them, but start with encouragement to all governments to consult their National Societies on the issues.
National Societies, with their unique combination of volunteer support and community membership alongside their status as auxiliaries to the public authorities in the humanitarian field, have a special contribution to make to the best approach to the challenges at the national and community level.
It is important to make the point at the outset that States, sitting together as equals with their National Societies, adopted unanimously an important declaration on this issue at the 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in December 2003.
That document, the Agenda for Humanitarian Action , states in the actions proposed within its Final Goal 4.1 urges governments to take a number of steps aimed at reducing risk-taking behaviour. These specifically include ensuring the availability of sterile injecting equipment and harm reduction efforts related to drug use.
In the same document, governments accept that they should negotiate clearly defined roles and responsibilities with their National Societies. Among the suggestions agreed in the Agenda for Humanitarian Action are the incorporation of National Societies in relevant national and coordination bodies.
With that short background, I now proceed to take the questions posed in order:
(a) Community capacity-building
National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are recognised by the international community, and in particular by those organisations concerned with public health issues, as being vital to any discussion of community perspectives on humanitarian issues.
This is one reason why the Agenda for Humanitarian Action emphasises the need for governments to take specific legal and policy measures to support and assist National Societies in building sustainable volunteer and community capacity in the area of HIV/AIDS, including prevention activities.
This is a commitment from governments which has been met with active energy by some governments, but there are others which have yet to move forward. I will offer an example of a region where the partnerships between governments and National Societies are paying dividends, and stimulating the growth of many other complementary partnerships with the same goal.
The Baltic region is currently experiencing the world's sharpest rises in the rate of infection. Most of that increase is attributable to drug abuse. It is eminently preventable, with the right programs.
The Red Cross Societies of the countries, in partnership with their governments and with other Red Cross Societies in Europe, are all active participants in ERNA, the European Red Cross Network on AIDS . This has led to the development of a comprehensive set of programs targeting those most vulnerable in the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian communities. It does so in the closest of consultation with those vulnerable groups, and has built programs in cooperation with Red Cross and other Youth in each country.
It has also integrated the lessons from the experiences of other National Societies confronting the same challenges, and I mention in this context the strong support which has been given to the Baltic National Societies and others by the Villa Maraini Foundation established by a joint venture including the Italian Red Cross. Alongside this program, there are also many valuable Red Cross youth exchanges which deserves the attention and appreciation of this Commission.
In the same region, and inspired by the scaling up of harm reduction activities in the Baltic region, a project is now being designed and implemented between the Red Cross Societies in Lithuania and Kaliningrad which is based on the keen interest of youth and volunteers in developing a clear understanding of HIV/AIDS and related education needs.
Nearby, Ukraine offers another example of a trend which is important to an understanding of the consequences of a country's inability to deal effectively with transmission through intravenous drug use. IDU transmission rapidly takes the pandemic to the general community, and the situation is so serious that it indicates a potentially uncontrollable spread of the virus to the population at large.
The International Federation's appeal for support for the programs of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society is now also based on heterosexual and mother-child transmission, and includes an expanding range of services to the most vulnerable, including through the establishment of needle exchange centres.
I should also note that World AIDS Day 2004 had a theme especially relevant to the theme of this debate. It marked the 10th anniversary of the Paris Summit and the commitment of Governments to the GIPA Principle - Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS. Although the principle has been reiterated many times since, the unfortunate fact is that in many countries the delivery has been thin.
Many of the International Federation's member National Societies have built valuable community-based activities responsive to local needs. The Thai Red Cross Society, for example, has run its "Wednesday Friends Club" since the early 1990s. It provides anonymous testing and counselling services, drugs in the mother-to-child transmission prevention program, and tests different combination therapies.
It also manages an AIDS research centre from which many specialised evidence-based outcomes and interventions are taken to the community and, importantly, to workplace environments through relationships with the private sector as well.
There are many examples from around the world of the way our National Societies work with the private sector in partnership against HIV/AIDS. One such, in the area of anti-retroviral therapy, is in Namibia where the Red Cross Society is involved in an holistic partnership with Bristol-Myer-Squibb, the Ministry of Health and a number of community-based organisations in the Caprivi region.
It is our hope that this thematic debate will lead to agreement on concrete measures, with timelines, for the implementation of GIPA in areas relevant to the mandate of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. This should include measures which address the need for laws on drug use and abuse which are consistent with the over-arching objective of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and working for the implementation of Millennium Development Goal 6 in all countries.
HIV/AIDS is a pandemic which does not threaten developing countries alone, and nor is its impact geographically restricted. This is why I chose Latvia as a case example on community work and the importance of building community capacity. That is also why we spend a great deal of effort on reaching the most vulnerable communities, in any way we can with a message they will receive and digest.
One such which might be of interest to the Commission is our search for ways to harness the power of such vectors as music, sport, theatre and other activities to reach youth most at risk. We are, for example, very pleased to be a participant with many other organisations in activities promoted by the International Olympic Committee and UNDP in the context of 2005 as the International Year for Sport and Development.
That context recognises, appropriately, that HIV/AIDS must be viewed as a grave threat to development in all its senses, and that if it can be addressed with the organisations which have the strongest appeal to youth, there is a stronger chance that the message will be heard.
On the same line, we are keen to develop stronger relationships with the music industry in recognition of the power of music as a messenger to youth and - in fact - all sectors of all communities. We may have more to say about this subject soon, especially in light of the strong and innovative programs of National Societies like that of Ukraine in their work with youth.
This approach shows that the achievement of global objectives like the MDGs depends on hard commitment to concrete objectives in all countries. Our global Red Cross Red Crescent Network is well situated to work with this Commission and all UN member states to ensure consistency at the top level and involvement by communities as we work together towards this objective.
(b) Preventing HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne diseases in the context of drug abuse prevention.
The International Federation is well aware of the debates which take place around the world on the relationship of the UN conventions on drug control and their relevance to the practical work which must be done at the community level, with community involvement. It is a difficult political issue in some countries, sometimes because the information available to the discussants is insufficient for a well-informed debate to take place.
The International Federation believes there is a need for much more dedication to the provision of accurate and relevant information to support national debates on law and policy. This session of the Commission, and the choice of this theme, indicates a welcome attempt at the international level to examine the relationship between the drug control conventions and realistic policy choices, but it needs to be replicated at national and community levels.
This is part of the strategy the International Federation has adopted. We have received a great deal of praise and support for our decision to publish a booklet entitled "Spreading the light of science" with guidelines on harm reduction related to injecting drug use .
I will not quote extensively from the booklet here, for it is available through the internet. It is important to note, however, that its introduction shows its relationship not only to the Millennium Development Goals and the outcome of the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS, but also to the work of this Commission and its resolution adopted in 2002 on HIV/AIDS and drug abuse.
The main international community guidance for much of this work lies in the 2002 UN General Assembly Declaration of Commitment. The International Federation and its National Society members work hard to build national level commitment to the Declaration, but effective action in support of harm reduction strategies still falls short of the expectations which surrounded the adoption of the Declaration.
For these reasons, the International Federation believes that this is an issue which will need much more active exposure at the national level if international commitments are to be met, and met on time.
There must be a much better informed debate at that level, and only then will the Commission and other bodies like the International Narcotics Control Board be in a position to assess the priority which the world demands for effective measures to help prevent the acceleration of infection of HIV/AIDS through intravenous drug use and other related forms of transmission.
Chair,
The International Federation very much values the working relationship it has built with the Office on Drugs and Crime. I am personally proud that my National Society, the Austrian Red Cross, is able to play a significant part in supporting the presence of the International Federation's Permanent Observer to international organisations in Vienna.
That office, especially with its link to the European Red Cross Network on HIV/AIDS, which is headquartered in Bratislava, is able to provide strong and comprehensive advice straight from the communities to support your work on this critical issue.
We will be looking for ways to scale up the International Federation's presence in your thinking here in Vienna, but we would urge you to strengthen your own contact with your National Society auxiliary partners to ensure that the national level provides you with the input you need if you are to address their needs effectively. And to ensure that an enabling volunteer environment exists in your countries which can maximise the critical contributions volunteers make to this joint effort.
When you do so, you will hear much more from communities about the present state of drug legislation and its adequacy in a very challenging world. It is our hope that the needs such a national discussion will disclose will be able to be a standing item on your important agenda here at the Commission.
It is also our hope that these issues will receive attention at the forthcoming United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. An important issue for us is the importance of addressing the criminalisation of people already stigmatised by the circumstances which have led them to be living with HIV/AIDS. We further hope that this will be a theme tackled at the important debate on HIV/AIDS to be held at the United Nations General Assembly on 2 June this year.
The International Federation will take part in both these sessions, and will continue to advocate for much more inclusive policies, involving the most vulnerable people themselves.