This resolution includes the strongest language on gender ever agreed in a CND resolution. Several paragraphs were adapted to be included in the UNGASS Outcome Document, which was negotiated at the same time in Vienna.
Resolution 59/5. Mainstreaming a gender perspective in drug-related policies and programmes
Welcoming the adoption of General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and containing the Sustainable Development Goals, in which Member States resolved, inter alia, to end poverty and hunger everywhere, to combat inequalities within and among countries, to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies to protect human rights and achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages and to ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources, as well as to create conditions for sustainable, inclusive and sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and decent work for all, taking into account different levels of national development and capacities,
Welcoming the adoption of General Assembly resolution 70/1, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, containing the Sustainable Development Goals, in which Member States resolved, inter alia, to end poverty and hunger everywhere; to combat inequalities within and among countries; to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies; to protect human rights and achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls; to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; and to ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources, as well as to create conditions for sustainable, inclusive and sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and decent work for all, taking into account different levels of national development and capacities
Recalling the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem,6 in which Member States acknowledged the important contribution made by women in curbing the world drug problem, committed themselves to ensuring that drug control policies, measures and interventions took into account the specific needs and circumstances that women face with regard to drug problems, and decided to undertake effective measures to ensure that women, as well as men, had access to, and benefited equally and without discrimination from, drug control policies and strategies by involving them actively in all stages of programme and policy development and implementation,
Gravely concerned about the social barriers that continue to hinder the access of women to treatment for drug use, including poverty and, in some cases, a lack of sufficient resources allocated for removing those barriers; and fully aware that women are acutely affected by particular consequences of drug abuse, such as sexually transmitted diseases and by the consequences of domestic violence and drug-facilitated crime
Recognizing the important role played by civil society in addressing and countering the world drug problem, in particular its gender-related aspects,
Reaffirming the commitment undertaken in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women7 to end all discrimination against women, in particular by achieving equal access for women to health-care services,
1. Calls upon Member States to develop, as needed, and implement national drug policies and programmes in full conformity with the international drug control conventions that take into account the specific needs of women and girls, including the need for access to health services developed specifically for their needs, and the needs of women who are the sole or primary caretakers of minors and others, and to exchange information and best practices in this regard
3. Takes note of the important role that women and girls play in addressing the various aspects of the world drug problem, and encourages their contributions to the development and implementation of national drug-related policies and programmes
6. Emphasizes that, without prejudice to the principle of equality of all before the law, when sentencing or deciding on pre-trial measures for a pregnant woman or a woman who is a child’s sole or primary caretaker, non-custodial measures should be preferred where possible and appropriate, with custodial sentences being considered when the offence is serious or violent, and, in this regard, invites Member States to draw on the Guidelines for Identification and Management of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders in Pregnancy, produced by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, where appropriate, and in conformity with national legislation;
7. Invites Member States, through collaboration among health and social services, and law enforcement and justice authorities, to take into account the specific needs and circumstances of women, including by taking measures to provide safe environments for women, and to use a wide range of alternative measures to conviction or punishment for appropriate drug-related offences of a minor nature, in accordance with national legislation, in order to improve public health and safety for individuals, families and societies
10. Also requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue to mainstream a gender perspective in all its practices, policies and programmes related to the world drug problem and to contribute appropriately, within its mandate, to the goals and targets of Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,52 realizing that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all the Sustainable Development Goals and targets;