The UN General Assembly will hold a Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs in 2016.

Stop the Harm is a diverse, broad, and powerful movement of NGOs from around the world who have united around one common purpose: rectifying the catastrophic failures of the current global drug policy regime through campaigning for a new course firmly grounded in health, compassion, and human rights.

The global drug policy system is broken. Despite aiming to ‘protect’ people from drugs, its punitive approach has instead increased the harms of these substances, punishing and demonizing the people and communities most impacted by them. This punishment has disproportionately impacted people and communities of color, indigenous peoples, and the economically marginalized, while stoking public health crises by restricting access to essential medicines and exacerbating the spread of HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood borne viruses.

This brutality, cruelty, and inhumanity must be halted now. We cannot wait another day while these abuses are carried out with impunity. The Stop the Harm movement has arrived at a critical juncture for global drug policy. From April 19-21, 2016, a United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) dedicated to reviewing progress on ending “the World Drug Problem” is being held in New York. At the last UNGASS on Drugs, held in 1998, global leaders pledged to secure “a drug-free world”— a goal that is not only unrealistic but has given rise to four decades of a global drug prohibition that has been deemed nothing less than a disaster, wasting trillions of US dollars and inflicting untold human suffering along the way.

The 2016 drugs UNGASS debate presents a vital opportunity to highlight the failures of current international drugs framework, give voice to those suffering from it, and shift the drug policy conversation. Through the Stop the Harm campaign, we demand that the United Nations and its member states acknowledge the damage wrought by the current drug control regime and to live up to their professed values by formally incorporating human rights, public health, sustainable development, and harm reduction principles firmly into drug policy across the globe

While the 2016 UNGASS has the potential to be a ground-breaking moment in shifting the debate, it is just the beginning of the battle for reform. Stop the Harm will continue to highlight local events, actions, and campaigns from across the globe that will be instrumental in ensuring we implement a more humane approach to controlling drugs. Find out how you can get involved!

This Special Session will be an important milestone in achieving the goals set in the policy document of 2009 "Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World  Drug Problem", which defined action to be taken by Member States as well as goals to be achieved by 2019.

In March 2014, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) conducted the high-level, mid-term review of the progress made in the implementation of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action, the results of which are included in the Joint Ministerial Statement adopted. Member States identified achievements, challenges and priorities for further action on the way to the target date of 2019.

The General Assembly (GA) has requested the CND, as the United Nations organ with the prime responsibility for drug control matters, to engage in the preparatory process for the UNGASS. In response to this request, the Commission adopted resolution 57/5, entitled "Special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem to be held in 2016", in which it decided to ensure an adequate, inclusive and effective preparatory process for the 2016 Special Session.

This process has been started immediately. As an initial step to facilitate that broader consultation with UN entities, international and regional organizations and non-governmental organizations, this websitewww.ungass2016.org has been created, which is meant to enable global dialogue in an inclusive and transparent manner and to function as a resource tool for the Commission in its preparations for the 2016 Special Session. All relevant UN entities, international and regional organizations as well as all NGOs which regularly attend the Commission have been invited to contribute. The website also contains a timeline that lays out important dates and events for the CND on the way to 2016.

In its resolutions resolutions 69/200 and 69/201 the GA asked the CND to lead the praparatory process by addressing all organizational and substantive matters in an open-ended manner. Resolution 69/200 further requests that the special session on the world drug problem in 2016 shall have an inclusive preparatory process that includes extensive substantive consultations, allowing organs, entities and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, relevant international and regional organizations, civil society and other relevant stakeholders to fully contribute to the process, in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure and established practices.

The formal process is enriched by a series of informal activities with the aim of creating an environment for exchange to benefit from the extensive expertise the different stakeholders (member states, UN entities, IGOs, IOs, civil society including NGOs, academia and the scientific community) can bring to the table. The preparations are supported by a number of tools to facilitate an effective, transparent and inclusive process. The initiatives and meetings are documented on this website.

In preparation for the special session, the 58th Session of the CND in March 2015 adopted resolution 58/8, entitled "Special Session of the General Assembly on the World Drug Problem to be held in 2016", making recommendations on organizational and substantive matters regarding the session for adoption by the General Assembly: e.g. the special Session to be held from 19-21 April 2016 or the session to consist of a general debate and five interactive, multi-stakeholder round tables.