UN Common Position on Drugs
Monitoring and advocating for the implementation of the UN System Common Position on drug-related matters — a landmark shift toward health and human rights-centered approaches.
In 2018, the UN System adopted a Common Position on drug-related matters, representing a historic shift toward health, human rights, and development-centered approaches. Ágora monitors its implementation and advocates for its principles to be reflected in national and international drug policies.
What is the Common Position?
The UN System Common Position, coordinated by the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB), commits all UN entities to a unified approach to drug policy that prioritizes:
People at the Center
Drug policies must put people — their health, safety, and human rights — at the center, rather than treating drug control as an end in itself.
Public Health Approach
Substance use should be addressed primarily as a public health issue, with evidence-based prevention, treatment, and harm reduction services.
Proportionate Responses
Criminal justice responses to drug offenses should be proportionate, with alternatives to incarceration for minor, non-violent offenses.
End Discrimination
Drug policies must not discriminate on any grounds, and should address the specific needs of women, youth, Indigenous peoples, and marginalized communities.
Our Work
- Implementation Monitoring: Tracking how UN agencies are translating the Common Position into their programs and policies
- Accountability Advocacy: Holding UN entities accountable when their actions contradict the Common Position's principles
- National Translation: Advocating for governments to align national drug policies with the Common Position's health and human rights framework
- Civil Society Engagement: Building civil society capacity to use the Common Position as an advocacy tool at national and regional levels
- Youth Perspective: Ensuring that young people's specific needs and rights are reflected in Common Position implementation
Key Principles We Advocate
Decriminalization
The Common Position supports decriminalization of drug possession for personal use as consistent with international drug conventions and human rights obligations.
Harm Reduction
Evidence-based harm reduction services — including needle exchange, supervised consumption, and naloxone distribution — should be available to all who need them.
Development Integration
Drug policy must be integrated with sustainable development strategies, addressing the socioeconomic drivers of drug-related challenges.
The UN Common Position represents what the evidence has shown for decades: punitive approaches to drugs cause more harm than the substances themselves. Implementation is now the challenge.