NEWS RELEASES
AXWORTHY LAUNCHES HEMISPHERIC DIALOGUE ON DRUGS DURING VISIT TO JAMAICA
January 8, 1999 (3:00 p.m. EST) No. 1
AXWORTHY LAUNCHES HEMISPHERIC DIALOGUE ON DRUGS
DURING VISIT TO JAMAICA
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy announced today in Jamaica that Canada is launching a dialogue among
the hemisphere's Foreign Ministers to address the impact of illicit drugs on the region's societies.
"Drug abuse in the Americas is intimately linked to poverty, urban decay, and criminal elements, and threatens
democratic development, sound economic management, and even relations between states," said Mr. Axworthy.
"The problems associated with illicit drugs will only be solved by moving beyond legal approaches and viewing
them from a broad human security perspective, by seeing how the drug problem affects individuals and
communities."
Minister Axworthy launched the drugs strategy after meeting with Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson,
Foreign Minister Seymour Mullings and other senior ministers and officials. The Minister will discuss the issue with
government leaders and officials in Mexico and Nicaragua in the next few days, and he has also written his
counterparts in the region to share his thoughts on the problems of illicit drugs and to encourage a broad dialogue
on the issue.
Secretary of State David Kilgour (Latin America and Africa) and other senior officials will consult with the region's
Foreign Ministers on the drug initiative over the next several months. They have been asked to visit as many
countries in the Americas as possible to develop an agenda for the first meeting of the Foreign Ministers
Dialogue Group on Drugs later this year. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced Canada's intention to create
the dialogue group during the April 1998 Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile.
The Minister has also informed his counterparts of a working meeting to be held later in the spring which will bring
together participants from the hemisphere to discuss drugs and human security. Funded by the Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade and organized by a consortium of non-governmental organizations inside
and outside Canada, the meeting will approach the issues from the broad
perspective of the human security agenda -- addressing implications for education, health, governance, and
economic development.
As Canada consults with other governments in the region, it will focus on five key areas of the human security
approach where more can be accomplished in working against the effects of illicit drugs: governance; small arms
and firearms; development and trade; education and health; and public engagement. This list is not exhaustive, but
is a starting point for dialogue with other countries of the hemisphere.
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A backgrounder summarizing Canada's approach is attached.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Backgrounder
DRUGS AND HUMAN SECURITY
Illicit drugs pose formidable challenges to all the countries in the Americas. The consumption of synthetic and
plant-based drugs is particularly alarming in North America but demand for these narcotics is growing in the rest
of the hemisphere. Drug abuse has deleterious effects on individual consumers and on families. Abuse and
production feed off rural poverty, criminality and urban decay; they also aggravate these social problems. Scarce
public revenues are diverted from productive activities. Economies are distorted, democracy is threatened, and
the relations between states are jeopardized by the frustrations of dealing with this transnational problem.
A web of international instruments has been crafted, at the global and hemispheric levels, to confront the
challenges posed by drugs. Many governments are investing resources to prevent drug abuse through education,
to treat and rehabilitate addicts through health interventions, to eradicate illicit crops and foster alternative
development. They are also acting to control the manufacture of synthetic drugs and the diversion of precursor
chemicals, to interdict drugs trafficking within and across borders, and to reduce the money laundering, corruption
and trafficking of small arms that buttress the illicit drugs industry.
The private sector, research centres and NGOs are important partners in many of these areas, especially in
education, health, development and governance. Multilateral institutions, particularly the Inter-American Drug
Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and the UN International Drug Control Program, have contributed
enormously by facilitating dialogue, fostering new standards, providing technical assistance as well as financial
support. The current development of a Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism, under the auspices of CICAD, should
enhance the assessment of national anti-drug efforts, promote learning from experience, and facilitate the
management of inter-governmental relations in this important but sensitive area.
Yet from a human security perspective more can be done. Human security places the well-being of individuals and
communities at the centre of our common search for security. It advocates holistic responses to multi-faceted
problems like illicit drugs. It calls for the creation of dynamic partnerships between governments, international
organizations and civil society. As such, a human security analysis leads us to conclude that five areas deserve
greater attention:
1. Governance: How could we enhance the capacity of police and judicial institutions to enforce the law while
guaranteeing justice and human rights, and how can we build on efforts to minimize corruption and curtail the
political influence of drug-related criminal organizations?
2. Small arms and firearms: How could we work together to promote the ratification of the Inter-American
Firearms Convention, the development of complementary global instruments and the strengthening of domestic
institutions charged with implementing these standards?
3. Development and trade: How can we provide greater support for the development of legal productive
activities as alternatives to illicit drug crops, and how could we enhance market access for these alternative
goods?
4. Education and health: What can be done to generate greater international cooperation to promote
preventative and curative approaches to drug abuse? How could we promote research on the effectiveness of
demand reduction programs in different national settings?
5. Public engagement: How can we encourage public initiatives, and how might we involve sectors of the public
in a dialogue on policy options, as appropriate?
This list is not meant to be exhaustive; it is simply a starting point for dialogue with other governments in the
hemisphere. Nor does the proposal displace the central role of CICAD and other multilateral bodies; rather, it
aims to generate greater support for existing initiatives in areas like demand reduction and development, and
nurture the will to innovate themes like public engagement, which are critical to the pursuit of human security in the
Americas.
Foreign Ministers will notice that there is considerable overlap between this list and the Santiago Summit Plan of
Action. We believe that the human security perspective offers a useful bridge between the hemispheric anti-drug
agenda and the broader summit process. As such, Canada proposes that these themes be explored by Foreign
Ministers in mid-1999, on the occasion of the OAS General Assembly in Guatemala, and that this discussion be
deepened in the lead-up to the next Summit of the Americas.
Specifically, next steps for a dialogue among Foreign Ministers might include:
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March 1999: Conference to present more in-depth research on the linkages between drugs and
governance, small arms, alternative development and trade, education and health, and opportunities for
public engagement in anti-drug efforts.
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June 1999: First Foreign Ministers Dialogue, at the margins of the OAS General Assembly in Guatemala,
to review conclusions from the conference and mandate further research, dialogue and action.
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Mid-1999 to mid-2000: Possible meetings with broader stakeholders, to prepare the ground for deeper
dialogue among Foreign Ministers.
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June 2000: Second Foreign Ministers Dialogue, at the margins of the OAS General Assembly. The aim
could be to review actions taken on key issues at the intersection of drugs and human security in the
hemisphere, to identify follow-up priorities before and beyond the next Summit of the Americas.
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2000-2001: Foreign Ministers report on the results of their dialogue at the Summit of the Americas, in
Canada. The aim of this report could be to obtain a mandate for further action, and possibly dialogue, on
drugs and human security priorities.
Throughout this process, the Summit Implementation and Review Group should be kept fully informed about the
results of the Foreign Ministers Dialogue.
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