Home Newsroom 2004 Speeches (archive) Kennedy: 2004-12-07

36th regular session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission

Speaking notes for
Paul Kennedy

Washington, DC
December 7, 2004

Check against delivery

Introduction

Buenos Dias y Bienvenidos. (Good morning and welcome.)

Welcome to the 36th Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission. (Acknowledgements of officials in attendance as appropriate.)

This is a day of mixed emotions for me. It marks the end of Canada's one-year chairmanship of the Commission, and I am proud of our record. But this meeting also marks the end of my personal involvement with CICAD after five years as Canada's representative on the Commission. I leave knowing that we have accomplished a great deal in that time, and that we are in good hands to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

Observations over the pasy five years

Canada has long played a leadership role in CICAD, and we will continue to do so in the future. We believe that the Commission is an effective multilateral drug control organization that can be a model for international cooperation and joint action.

There is still a lot of work to do and many challenges to overcome, but our accomplishments to date are impressive. Despite differences in language, culture, legal systems, history and economic circumstances, CICAD's member countries are able to work together because we understand that we are all part of a larger community, and we all have responsibilities to each other.

Our collective security depends on our ability -- as individual states and as a group -- to address the drug problem that plagues our hemisphere. This is a shared problem that requires a shared, collaborative response.

CICAD has proven itself to be a leader in security issues for the region and for the world. Over the past five years, I have witnessed the Commission mature into an effective and flexible entity -- one where constructive criticism is welcome and where frank and open discussions on how to control drugs are now encouraged.

One of the successes that really distinguishes this Commission from others is the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism, which allows us to systematically analyze the nature and scope of the drug problem and make decisions based on facts, rather than politics or assumptions.

The MEM has replaced the old paradigm, under which we basically blamed each other for the problem by categorizing OAS member states as drug producer, transit, or consumer countries. It has enabled us to move away from the blame game and to develop national, regional and hemispheric perspectives and approaches to addressing the drug problem.

The MEM has been a catalyst for action. It has encouraged countries to implement drug control legislation and regulations, ratify international conventions, develop national drug strategies, and enhance cooperation and collaboration among member states. It has helped to raise the baseline of what countries with widely varying resources and capabilities can do to control the drug problem, and has improved safety and security for us all.

Accomplishments and themes under Canada's chairmanship

As chair of CICAD over the past year, Canada has endeavoured to build on the work of the Mexican chairmanship before us. We believe it's important to ensure continuity from year-to-year, so that the work of the past is not lost, but rather is strengthened and enhanced. With that in mind, we followed up on the Mexican theme of combating organized crime with our own key theme of improving cross-border cooperation.

Earlier this year, Canada hosted an OAS symposium on cross-border cooperation and border integrity. This four-day symposium, which included formal presentations and on-site demonstrations, brought together senior officials from 30 member states responsible for customs, immigration, law enforcement, transport and justice issues.

The symposium brought the issue of cross-border cooperation on drug control to the forefront of hemispheric discussions. It demonstrated that cooperation can be achieved on many levels, and on many issues -- including law enforcement and land, aviation and maritime borders -- while respecting a nation's sovereignty.

You may also be aware that the symposium involved significant coordination between CICAD and CICTE, the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism. This was consistent with another theme pursued by Canada over the past year, which is the need to further improve inter-American communication and coordination of efforts to increase hemispheric security and cooperation on the drug problem and on drug-related organized crime.

To this end, we have encouraged various OAS commissions and secretariats to align their work plans and activities to avoid duplication of efforts to get the maximum return on our collective investments. This coordination is particularly important among groups that work on public safety and governance issues, such as CICAD, CICTE and CIFTA, but extends to other entities as well.

In this light, we view the reorganization of the OAS Secretariat as a positive step that will facilitate increased coordination across the organization. At the same time, I urge the Commission to continue to look for opportunities to work more closely with other inter-American and international bodies in order to be cost-effective and efficient.

This is especially important given the current financial and restructuring pressures facing the OAS. In response to these pressures, I am proud that during our chairmanship, Canada initiated two measures to ensure that we are investing CICAD resources wisely.

First, we worked with the CICAD Secretariat to establish the informal donors group, which is now meeting on the margins of CICAD sessions, to enable donors to communicate more effectively among themselves and better coordinate their investments in CICAD. The Commission now depends on voluntary contributions for nearly 80 per cent of its activities, and our major donors need to be better informed and aware of what others are doing to optimize the strategic allocation of resources.

Second, we initiated a priority-setting exercise to more effectively address both CICAD's core mandate and emerging threats. While there are numerous avenues that CICAD could follow, and hundreds of activities it could undertake, we must focus on those areas where we can make a real difference and bring value-added, using the resources available to us. To do otherwise would seriously undermine our relevance and effectiveness in the longer term.

Advice for the future

Looking to the future, I would like to offer some advice not only as outgoing chair, but also as someone who has been involved with CICAD for the past five years.

The organization is facing difficult times -- this is clear to all of us. But the problems are not insurmountable. A time of change can also be a time to grow stronger.

How do we do that? In my view, it is now more important than ever to establish clear priorities for CICAD. Member states need to understand that the CICAD Secretariat cannot be all things to all countries. In order for the Secretariat to continue to be effective, the Commission needs to develop a sustainable work plan.

That means continually asking hard questions. Is there real value in that exercise or that group's work plan? Should this project continue or has it outlived its potential? What activities are best positioned to have the greatest long-term impact? After asking those questions, if we find we are not getting value for money, our resources should be directed elsewhere.

CICAD has already proven it can make these difficult decisions. Between 1996 and 2001, we allocated $1.5 million to RETCOD, a project to develop a telecommunications network to allow for the rapid and secure exchange of drug control information, both within and between countries. But when the request came for additional funding, the Commission decided that the eventual outcome would not be worth the extra investment, and the project was terminated.

Similarly, I encourage the Secretariat to seek the Commission's guidance before embarking on new projects or activities. The Secretariat must be open and frank with the Commission about the realities it faces, including severe resource limitations and a growing mandate.

I also believe the CICAD donor community needs to provide technical assistance in a more coordinated and strategic fashion than has been the case in the past. Major donors must continue to be strategic in their investments. Likewise, recipient countries have to play their part in identifying national priorities and gaps.

However, it's not enough to simply identify a problem and then look to others to address it. Member countries must first demonstrate leadership by investing in the solution themselves. The most effective way to engage a donor is to show that the issue carries weight within your own government -- and the best way to do that is by investing your own resources in tackling the problem.

In addition to identifying priorities, the Commission must encourage countries to develop local solutions to local problems. Often countries become so enthusiastic about a project that has proven successful elsewhere that they simply transpose the model in their own country. And they do so without adjusting the project's parameters to reflect the economic, political and social realities they face. This cut and paste approach seldom works, because every country has different resources, different infrastructure and different capabilities.

This is why we need to promote "local champions" who can develop cost-effective, sustainable models that meet their particular needs and then help transfer those models to other countries that share similar circumstances and capabilities.

A good example of this is the community-policing project that was recently implemented in the Dominican Republic, based on a Canadian model. Because the Dominican Republic shares a common legal system, language and history with other Spanish-speaking countries in the region, it will have much greater success in championing similar projects in those countries than would Canada.

I also encourage the Commission to strive for a more balanced approach between controlling the demand for and supply of drugs. While I appreciate that the supply side of the equation is of paramount importance in many of your countries, given the links to cultivation, arms trafficking and insurgent groups, keep in mind that if demand were eliminated, there would be no supply. In this multilateral forum, we have a responsibility to address the underlying factors associated with drug use through education, prevention and health promotion initiatives, especially with regard to children and youth.

Last, but certainly not least, I urge you to remember that the MEM is the foundation for CICAD's success. It must be nurtured and continually strengthened. This will require regular reviews and evaluations to ensure that the MEM remains a practical and relevant tool. We need to prioritize the MEM's recommendations, focus on tasks that are realistic, practical and doable, and then hold countries accountable for them.

This will further contribute, I believe, to the culture of success that we are building in CICAD and across the OAS, despite the financial and organizational challenges we face.

As I noted earlier, OAS member states are now more open to constructive criticism and frank dialogue than perhaps they were in the past. There is a growing recognition that ensuring public safety and security is a cornerstone that allows us to strengthen representative democracy, promote good governance, protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and improve our economic well-being. Through the MEM and other initiatives, CICAD is contributing to the common vision of democracy and freer trade that has been articulated by our leaders through the Summit of the Americas process.

Summary and Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier, I have been involved with CICAD for five years, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to chair the group on behalf of Canada over the past 12 months. I would like to thank the Commission for its support throughout the year. I want to extend a special thanks to the CICAD Secretariat, which demonstrated the utmost professionalism while supporting me as chair. Muchas gracias.

Now, it is my pleasure to introduce the new Executive Secretary of CICAD, Mr. James Mack.

Mr. Mack has been with CICAD since 2002, as the Coordinator of the Inter-American Observatory on Drugs. He has extensive experience working with drug issues and is intimately familiar with the region, having served as a U.S. foreign service officer in Costa Rica, Brazil, El Salvador, Paraguay, Ecuador and Peru, and as the U.S. Ambassador to Guyana from 1997 to 2000.

In his last Foreign Service post, Mr. Mack held a senior position in the US State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics Affairs, where he was instrumental in leading and coordinating U.S. Anti-narcotics assistance to Colombia.

Given this broad array of experience and his knowledge of the inner workings of CICAD, I am confident that James Mack will serve this Commission well. Please join me in welcoming him this morning.