In their “Lisbon Declaration”, issued on Wednesday 14 December at the end of the 18th Ministerial Conference of the Pompidou Group, the Ministers and experts from the 41 Member States of this “Council of Europe International Cooperation Group on Drugs and Addiction” called for a human rights-based approach to combating drug addiction.
In this context, European governments are called upon to further develop meaningful cooperation and dialogue with civil society organisations, the scientific community and other relevant actors in the development and implementation of policies and programmes.
The Declaration also announces a reflection on strategies to fight against addictions linked to the use of information and communication technologies, as a first step towards a major policy orientation planned between 2023 and 2025.
Ukraine joined the Group in 2022, which was created in 1971 at the initiative of French President Georges Pompidou.
Armenia and Georgia joined in 2020.
It is open to third countries and still includes Russia in its ranks, despite the country’s exclusion from the Council of Europe in March 2022.
Morocco, Israel and Mexico are also members.
Link to the “Lisbon Declaration”: https://aeur.eu/f/4p3 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)