Report on the meeting of the open-ended intergovernmental expert working group on international cooperation on the eradication of illicit drug crops and on alternative development (UNODC/CND/2008/WG.3/3)

(c) Recognizing that poverty and vulnerability are some of the factors behind illicit drug crop cultivation and that poverty eradication is a principal objective of the Millennium Development Goals, integrated and sustainable alternative development programmes, including preventive alternative development programmes, should, where appropriate, be included in national development strategies that also take into account social, cultural, economic, political, educational and environmental aspects. In that regard, alternative development, where appropriate including preventive alternative development approaches and strategies, should be incorporated by development organizations and international financial institutions into poverty reduction strategy papers and country assistance strategies for States affected by the cultivation of illicit drug crops;

(d) Member States should promote plans and strategies with members of the development community, in particular international financial institutions, to incorporate alternative development approaches for countering illicit drugs into their wider development agendas, where they do not already exist; (…)

(g) When considering taking eradication measures, Member States should ensure that small-farmer households have adopted viable and sustainable livelihoods, so that measures may be properly sequenced in a sustainable fashion and appropriately coordinated;

(h) Further research should be conducted to assess the factors leading to the cultivation of illicit drug crops in order to formulate evidence-based measures; (…)

(p) Donor States, the States concerned and other relevant key development actors should examine innovative ways to promote alternative development programmes that are environmentally friendly; (…)

(w) Member States should recognize that the success of efforts to eliminate or reduce illicit drug crops and to promote alternative development are closely linked to the success of efforts to eliminate or reduce the demand for illicit drugs.