Youth delivering a statement at the 67th Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
Vienna (Austria), 20 March 2024 - “As young changemakers, your determination, energy, and passion are our strongest assets in calling for action, at a time when it is desperately needed.”
Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was emphatic about how young people can make a safer and healthier world.
Speaking at the start of the Youth Forum on the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), Ms. Waly told youths that this was “an opportunity to make your voices heard at the highest level and to present your ideas and initiatives directly to policymakers.”
The Youth Forum at the CND brings together youths from all around the world engaged in substance use prevention and youth empowerment to learn and discuss with UNODC experts about evidence-based substance use prevention and how youth can be more involved in prevention efforts in their communities.
For three days, youths attended interactive sessions to enhance their knowledge in evidence-based prevention, grounded in the UNODC/World Health Organization (WHO) International Standards on Drug use Prevention, including vulnerabilities and the science behind substance use disorders. Youth also discussed factors that should be considered to enable meaningful youth engagement in the context of substance use prevention efforts.
Katerina Markaki, one youth participant from Greece, said she was inspired by the other participants. “I realised that change is truly possible. I am more optimistic right now after the Youth Forum, to see the change in youths.”
Youth further shared their experiences and inspirations that led to their initiation and involvement in prevention work. Through group activities, they learned from each other, sharing their best practices of prevention efforts from their communities, and took notes of cases that did not seem to be effective.
Katerina explained that, as a social worker, she and other students organize informal sessions for university students on prevention, demystifying the issues related to substance use and emphasizing the importance of prevention.
They designed a website that provides non-alcoholic alternatives to cocktails. The site also includes information on alcohol consumption and useful hotline numbers for people seeking help. They also organized group games to reflect on substance use prevention and operated an Instagram account proposing Q&A quizzes.
“Peer-to-peer engagement is a really rewarding method, because with the activities done through workshops, group and teamwork, we saw really great results in the growth of soft skills such as decision making and problem solving,” she shares.
The youths also developed a joint Youth Statement that was delivered to policymakers during the Plenary of the High-Level segment of the 67th session of the CND.
“Involving young people into policymaking is really important because policies often directly impact and affect young people,” Katerina said. “So our voices must be heard and taken into consideration.”
The youths reminded the delegates of the positive outcomes that can emerge from youth participation: “By providing youths with various leadership roles, skills development and peer support networks through youth-led organizations, peer-to-peer education, mentorship, and social media, we can pave the way for a better tomorrow.”
They called on Member States “to prioritize drug use prevention, especially among youths, and to invest in evidence-based, early, and youth-centred prevention strategies.”
“When signing each drug-related policy, picture how it feels to be young and see our futures fall to conditions and situations that we cannot control,” they said.
And they insisted on the necessity for youths and policy makers to work hand in hand: “By working together and empowering young people to care for health and well-being, we can create a brighter and healthier future for all.”
UNODC will continue to engage with youth participants through its Youth Initiative projects, such as the Youth Magazine ‘Butterfly Wings’ and the soon-to-be-developed youth peer-to-peer prevention programme Friends-in-Focus.
