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Press Advisory


Experts to Debate at the OAS on Women, Drugs, and Incarceration in the Hemisphere

  March 28, 2014

The Organization of American States (OAS) will hold on Monday, March 31, at 14:30 EDT (18:30 GMT), at its headquarters in Washington, DC, the 57th Policy Roundtable titled "Women, Drug Policy, and Incarceration in the Americas," that will bring together experts to explore the increasing role of women in all spheres of the illicit drug market, the dynamics of their participation and the need to rethink the hemispheric approach to this issue from the perspective of protection of human rights and gender equality.

The event is jointly organized by the OAS Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and has the support of the Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the OAS. The debate will gather a group of drug policy experts of various sectors of government, civil society, academia, and the international community.

The event's agenda includes an opening statement by the CIM’s Executive Secretary, Carmen Moreno; the intervention of the Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the OAS, Ambassador Milton Romani Gerner; a keynote speech by Gabriela Olivera of the National Drugs Secretariat of Uruguay; and interventions by Corina Giacomello of the IDPC; Nischa Pieris of the CIM; and Rosa Julia Leyva of the National Security Commission of the Secretariat of the Interior of Mexico. The closing remarks will be given by the OAS Secretary for Multidimensional Security, Adam Blackwell.

The Roundtable will be broadcast live on the OAS Website.

WHAT: 57th Policy Roundtable “Women, Drug Policy, and Incarceration in the Americas”

WHEN: Monday, March 31, 2014, 14:30 EDT (18:30 GMT)

WHERE: Hall of the Americas
Organization of American States
17th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Reference: AVI-045/14