NEWS RELEASES

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:

• 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.

• 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.

• Mid-1999 to mid-2000: Possible meetings with broader stakeholders, to prepare the ground for deeper dialogue among Foreign Ministers.

• 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.

• 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.