Media Center

Press Release

Meeting of the CICAD of the OAS in San Jose, Costa Rica will Discuss New Instrument of Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism

The 52nd Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS) will be held in San José, Costa Rica from November 28 to 30, 2012, and will discuss, among other issues, the body’s new instrument of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM).

During the ceremony for the signing of the agreement between the OAS and the government of Costa Rica for the event, the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, highlighted the importance of the meeting taking place “during the time in which our organization is moving forward with its work to prepare the Report on the Drug Problem in the Hemisphere, in compliance with the mandate given at the Sixth Summit of the Americas.” “I am sure,” he added, “that this meeting will provide a favorable atmosphere to report on progress made in the preparation of the Report.”

In addition to the new instrument of the MEM, which is based on the Plan of Action of the Hemispheric Drug Strategy of CICAD, the meeting in San José will also deal with the focus on public health for the Drug Dependence Treatment System; alternatives to incarceration; confiscation and administration of goods from organized crime; and the particular characteristics of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs. Also during the meeting the CICAD Chair for 2012-2013 will be decided.

The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the OAS, Ambassador Edgar Ugalde Álvarez, cited the words of the President of his country, Laura Chinchilla, during the Summit of the Americas, when she said “it is obvious that we must review the predominant focus to this point, that presents the drug problem as one of a war” and “we should understand it as a global problem that extends its tentacles across the world.”

The Costa Rican diplomat expressed his government’s hope that the meeting at the end of this month “serves as a new opportunity to speak from the heart and evaluate and determine the reality of each of our countries as far as where we are, how we are doing, and what is the future of this struggle about which there are real disputes with respect to its results.”

The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission is the Western Hemisphere's policy forum for dealing with the drug problem. The Hemispheric Drug Strategy, approved in May 2010, expresses the firm commitment of Member States to deal with the consequences of the drug trade, which pose a growing threat to health, economic development, social cohesion, and the rule of law.

The agenda of the 52nd Regular Session of CICAD is available here.

A gallery of photos of the event will be available here.

The video of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-396/12