Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by the President of the United Nations Security Council regarding the problem of Afghan drugs

The Security Council reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan.

The Security Council recognizes the threat posed by the production, trade, trafficking of illicit drugs to international peace and stability in different regions of the world and the important role played by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in this regard.

The Security Council expresses concern at the increase in poppy production as noted in the UNODC Afghanistan Opium Survey 2013, noting the serious harm that opium cultivation, production and trafficking and consumption continues to cause to the stability, security, social and economic development and governance of Afghanistan as well as to the region and internationally, and stresses the important role of the United Nations to continue to monitor the drug situation in Afghanistan. The Council encourages ISAF to further, effectively support, within its designated responsibilities, Afghan-led sustained efforts, including efforts by the ANSF, to address drug production and trafficking, in cooperation with relevant international and regional actors.

The Security Council notes that according to the World Drug Report 2013 Afghanistan remains one of the foremost source countries for opiates and cannabis resin.

The Security Council reaffirms that Afghanistan’s peaceful future lies in the building of a stable, secure, economically sustainable state, free of terrorism and narcotics and based on the rule of law, strengthened democratic institutions, respect for the separation of powers, reinforced constitutional checks and balances and the guarantee and enforcement of citizens’ rights and obligations. The Council renews its commitment to assisting Afghanistan on its path towards peace, democracy and reconstruction.

The Security Council welcomes the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan in fighting drug production in Afghanistan.

The Security Council stresses the importance of a comprehensive approach to address the security, economic, governance and development challenges in Afghanistan, which are of an interconnected nature, and recognizes that there is no purely military solution to ensure the stability of Afghanistan.

The Security Council calls on the United Nations, with the support of the international community, to support the Government of Afghanistan’s National Priority Programmes covering the issues of security, governance, justice and economic and social development and to support the full implementation of mutual commitments made on these issues at international Conferences, as well as on continuing implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy, and requests that UNAMA, in an increasingly enabling function, assist the Government of Afghanistan on its way towards ensuring full Afghan leadership and ownership, as defined by the Kabul process.

The Security Council reiterates its support for the Transition (Inteqal) process which will entail the assumption of full responsibility by Afghanistan’s institutions in the security sector, consistent with the London, Kabul, Bonn and Tokyo Conferences and the NATO Lisbon and Chicago Summits.

The Security Council stresses the central and impartial role that the United Nations will continue to play in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan by leading the efforts of the international community.

The Security Council reiterates its concern about the security situation in Afghanistan, in particular the ongoing violent and terrorist activities by the Taliban, Al-Qaida and other violent and extremist groups, illegal armed groups, criminals and those involved in the production, trafficking or trade of illicit drugs, and the strong links between terrorism activities and illicit drugs, resulting in threats to the local population, including women, children, national security forces and international military and civilian personnel, including humanitarian and development workers.

The Security Council notes with concern the existing links between international security, terrorism and transnational organized crime, money-laundering, trafficking in illicit drugs and illegal arms, and in this regard emphasizes the need to enhance coordination of efforts on national, subregional, regional and international levels in order to strengthen a global response to this serious challenge and in particular to close connections between international terrorism and illicit drugs.The Council welcomes the recent efforts carried out under the Russian Presidency in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on identification of the illicit financial flows linked to Afghan drug production and trafficking.

The Security Council emphasizes the need to enhance existing interregional and international cooperation and coordination mechanisms in order to develop an integrated, comprehensive and balanced response to the drug problem, including as part of a long-term security, development and institution-building agenda.

The Security Council encourages an enhanced collaboration between all relevant entities, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, including the UN Police Division, and the UN Development Program in order to have an effective and detailed coordination mechanism to prioritize activities, support the National Drug Control Strategy and to ensure coordinated implementation of a United Nations’ comprehensive approach. It encourages the inclusion of combating drug trafficking and transnational organized crime in the work of all relevant United Nations entities involved in Afghanistan, in accordance with their respective mandates and actively maximizing synergies.

The Security Council reaffirms specifically in this context its support for the implementation, under the leadership and ownership of the Afghan people, of the commitments set out in London (S/2010/65) and Kabul Conference Communiques, and of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and of the National Drugs Control Strategy as part of the comprehensive implementation strategy to be taken forward by the Government of Afghanistan with the support of the region and the international community and with a central and impartial coordinating role for the United Nations, consistent with the Kabul Process and in line with the National Priority Programmes.

The Security Council, stressing the crucial importance of advancing regional and interregional cooperation, welcomes in this regard the continued commitment of the international community to support stability and development in Afghanistan, and calls on the Afghan Government, with the assistance of the international community, to accelerate the implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy, including through alternative livelihood programmes, encourages additional international support for the four priorities identified in that Strategy, and commends the support provided by the UNODC to the Triangular Initiative and the Central Asian Regional Coordination and Information Centre (CARICC) within the framework of the Paris Pact Initiative and the Rainbow Strategy, the UNODC regional programme for Afghanistan and neighboring countries, relevant efforts by Istanbul Process on Regional Peace and Security, the European Union, through the EU’s Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) and Border Management in Northern Afghanistan (BOMNAF), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) process, continued OSCE engagement with Afghanistan, based on the 2011 Vilnus Ministerial Declaration, by means of implementation of the OSCE project at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe, inter alia, the training of Afghan law enforcement officers on combating illicit drugs at the Domodedovo Police Academy of Russia and their continued training in the United States’ Drug Enforcement Training Academy, the Siberian Law Institute and North-Western Advanced Training Institute of the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia.

The Security Council calls upon States to strengthen international and regional cooperation to counter the threat to the international community posed by the production, trafficking, and consumption of illicit drugs originating in Afghanistan, with a view to its progressive elimination, in accordance with the principle of common and shared responsibility in addressing the drug problem of Afghanistan, including through strengthening the law enforcement capacity and cooperation against the trafficking in illicit drugs and precursor chemicals and money-laundering and corruption linked to such trafficking. The Council also encourages Member States to undertake further action, as well as to consider, on the basis of concrete proposals by UNODC and International Narcotic Control Board, through the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, possible new international initiatives aimed at strengthening the combat against illicit trafficking in chemical.

The Security Council notes the ongoing importance of the counter-narcotics issue for the United Nations’ engagement in Afghanistan. It reiterates the need for the Council to be kept informed, including by the UNODC, of the threats of drug-trafficking and related transnational crime on situations on the Council’s agenda, notably when examining the mandates of peace-keeping operations and political missions.

The Security Council reiterates its invitation to the Secretary-General to consider the threats resulting from drug trafficking and related illegal activities as a factor in conflict prevention strategies, conflict analysis, integrated missions’ assessments, planning and peacebuilding support and to consider including in his reports, analysis of the role played by these threats in situations on the Council’s agenda.

The Security Council welcomes further briefings on the situation of drug trafficking in Afghanistan, as necessary, by the Executive Director of UNODC.