 It is now my absolute pleasure to introduce the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, by way of introduction. Ms. Bachelet assumed her functions as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights late last year in September. Ms. Bachelet was elected the President of Chile on two occasions. She was the first female President of Chile. She served as Health Minister, as well as Chile's and Latin American's first female Defense Minister. During her presidential tenures, she promoted the rights of all, but in particular the most vulnerable. Amongst her many achievements, she established the National Institute for Human Rights, the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, and led the approval of the Civil Union Act legislation advancing LGBT rights. Since the early 90s, Ms. Bachelet has worked closely with the UN. In 2011, Ms. Bachelet was named the first Director of UN Women. Michelle Bachelet has a medical degree in surgery with a specialization in pediatrics and public health. And with that, I introduce the High Commissioner. Thank you, Noemi. Chairpersons, President Sampayo, Secretary of State Raquel Duarte, Mr. Mayor Porto, distinguished panelists, members of parliament, Excellencies, colleagues and friends also want to salute specifically of the activists of Harvard Action and all human rights defenders who are present here today. I'm really pleased to be at this gathering of people working at the heart of Harvard Action, drug policy and human rights. The theme of this meeting, People Before Politics, is a call to mobilize energy and conviction to shift the world's focus from the current emphasis on punitive law enforcement to one that emphasizes the well-being and rights of people who use drugs. It is particularly important that we are meeting in Portugal, where use of drugs or possession for personal use is no longer a criminal offense. Syringe exchange and substitution treatment are widely available. And much has been done to ensure better access to healthcare for people who use drugs. At the center of these legal and policy changes has been concerned for the well-being of the individuals concerned and to the degree possible addressing the underlying factors which drive drug dependence. The result has been a striking drop in new HIV infections, mortality from overdose and incarceration. The so-called war on drugs is driven by the idea that cracked down some people who use drugs or who are involved in the trade of drugs will make drug use go away. But we know from experience that this is simply not true. After decades of this approach, the countries which adopted it are not closer to being drug free. On the contrary, the range and amount of substances being produced and consumed is greater today than ever before. A combination of poverty, limited opportunities for marginalized and rural communities and political instability have continued to drive high levels of supply and a marked increase in drug-related deaths. Between 2000 and 2015, there has been a 60% increase in drug-related fatalities, with a harrowing 400,000 deaths in 2015. On the demand side, repressive policies have actually impeded policies which could address some of the social factors which aggravate an individual's vulnerability to drug use and its harmful outcomes. We are witnessing continuing and in some cases increasing human rights violations related to drug control measures. They include reports of extensive extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances in some countries, use of death penalty for drug-related conduct not considered to constitute most serious crimes under international law. In the last 20 years, drug-related practices in law enforcement and arbitrary detention, the criminalization of drug users deters people from accessing treatment and other health and social services. Together with the stigmatizing attitude and discrimination with its fuels, criminalization is also likely to lead to higher risk of risk-injection practices and higher risk of overdose due to the need to inject quickly and in unsafe places. Cancellation of drug use also fuels mass incarceration. The number of people currently incarcerated worldwide is reportedly at the all-time high of 10 million, which in one in five inmates incarcerated for drug offenses, most of them possession of drug for personal use. The incarceration of large numbers of people in overcrowded and underfunded prisons is likely to increase the probability they will commit crimes on their release. Imprisonment is also very costly for far less cost-affected treatment and counseling. In this context, it frequently appears to be an unjust or disproportionately severe penalty. And although prisons represent high-risk environments for the transmission of blood-borne viruses, there are typically even fewer harm reduction services on offer in prisons that there are in the community, aggravating the risk of harm to health. Harm reduction measures have been recognized as essential for people who use drugs by the General Assembly of United Nations, the Human Rights Council, the World Health Organization, UNH and multiple human rights treaty bodies and special reporters. More than 80% of people who inject drugs are either living with or have previously had an hepatitis infection. People who inject drugs are at 23 times greater risk of HIV infection than people who do not inject drugs. Although the global incidence of HIV infection declined by 25% between 2010 and 2017, the incidence amongst people who inject drugs and their partners is actually rising. But despite this heavy burden of disease, effective harm reduction interventions which could prevent their spread are lacking or severely underfunded in many countries. The number of countries providing needle and syringe programs and or opioid substitution therapy has fallen since 2014. Drug use is present in 179 of the 206 countries reviewed by the Lancet, but currently just 86 countries implement needle and syringe exchange to different degrees, and 86, but not the same 86 as before, permit opioid substitution as therapy. Meanwhile, the programs that exist are frequently deprived of adequate funds, particularly in low and middle income countries. Last year, UNAIDs alerted the world to the 20% shortfall in funding for the global HIV response, and for harm reduction overall, the gap appears to be close to 90%. Excellencies, government need to safeguard and improve the well-being of societies, and when a set of policies clearly fails to achieve its goal, it is time to change them. As the example of Portugal demonstrates, policies grounded in evidence and guided by concern for public health and human rights are more effective in addressing both the supply of drugs and the demand for them, as well as their most damaging effects on society. When as I mean remember, President Sampaio was president, Portugal has Europe's highest rate of HIV among injecting drug users, and President Sampaio and my colleague and current boss, Antonio Guterres, then prime minister of Portugal, introduced non-crisp criminal responses to the possession of drugs for personal use that same year. Greater resources were allocated to prevention, treatment, including harm reduction measures, and programs for the reintegration of people who use drugs into society. The rate of all sexually transmitted diseases decreased dramatically. Overall rates of drug use fell. Portugal now has one of the lowest death rates for drug use in Europe. Excellencies, colleagues, friends, looking specifically at harm reduction programs, the evidence is clear. Whether they exist and receive adequate funding, they have been markedly successful in reducing harm to the health and well-being of people who use drugs. Needle exchange, quality treatment, education, counseling, and drug substitutes like methadone or naxaline has been effective in decreasing addiction, overdose, and the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. Progress has been reported with national authorities have managed drug use and dependence as a public health problem, as it was said before me, which requires treatment, counseling, and medical intervention. Drug treatment and counseling programs are not only far more effective than prison at reducing drug dependence and abuse, they are also more cost effective. And they do not produce the massive social and economic impact on poor and minority communities that we currently see in many countries that rely on discriminatory policing and mass incarceration. In March, just this year, at the high level ministerial segment of the 62nd session of the Commission of Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, all members state unanimously expressed concerns regarding drug control policies that are not in conformity with international human rights obligations. In November last year, the International Narcotic Control Board reiterated in the clearest possible terms that if drug control measures adopted by states violate internationally recognized human rights, they also violate the international drug control conventions. In June 2017, 12 UN agencies issued a statement recommending the review and repeal of punitive law criminalizing or otherwise prohibiting drug use or the possession of drugs for personal use. So with such persuasive evidence and a clear international consensus in favor of human rights based drug policies, why are so many people being deprived of the rights as human beings because they have been cut up in drug use? Why do so many countries still have legal and policy barriers to life-saving harm reduction services, including laws that make needle and syringe change and opioid substitution treatment illegal, distinguished heirs? In view of the presence in this audience of so many distinguished experts in the field of health, I want to take a moment to discuss the question of access to control medicines not only for opioid substitution therapy but for health needs unrelated to illicit drug use. The medical use of controlled narcotic drugs continues to be indispensable for the relief of pain and suffering. The grinder availability for such purposes is essential. The denial of pain relief may constitute ill treatment amounting to torture. It is also vital to ensure that opioid substitution therapy can assist people who have become dependent to distance themselves from the many dangers to life and health associated with illegal sources of narcotics. Taking internationally controlled drugs available for medical and scientific purposes has been at the heart of the International Drug Control Convention since the single convention on narcotic drugs of 1961. And I'm certain that all members they have the capacity to devise legislation that ensures compliance with this vital element of the right to health. Alongside the excessive restrictions on access to opioids in several countries, an epidemic of opioid dependence in North America has been generated unprecedented levels of mortality. This crisis has been spurred by the obvious prescription of opioids by doctors. Clearly there is a need for a well-designed regulation and training regarding the prescription of opioid including monitoring so that the goal of adequate pain relief can be achieved. Treating opioid dependence with programs that focus on abstinence is likely to be much less successful than opioid substitution therapy. Complete abstinence from drug use has also been the primary message of prevention in many countries today. But whether as treatment or as prevention there is very little evidence that this message is effective. Honest information, encouraging moderation in youthful experimentation and prioritizing safety through knowledge are more likely, are far more likely to lead to positive outcomes. As Sol stated, noted in the outcome document of the UN General Assembly special session on drugs in 2016 when they committed to take effective practical and evidence-based prevention measures and to provide accurate information about the risks of drug abuse. It is also essential for every prevention and awareness campaign to promote non-stigmatizing attitudes towards people who use drugs. Distinguished chairs, colleagues and friends, in a number of countries significant reforms are needed to bring criminal justice systems to compliance with international human rights law on issues related to drug use. There has been some positive movement with respect to the use of death penalty including a significant decrease in reported executions for drug offenses since 2015. But at least 3,940 people were executed for a drug offense in the last decade. I remain concerned about the continuing use of capital punishment for drug offenses in a number of states and moves towards its reintroduction in others. 35 states maintain the death penalty for drug offenses in violation of international human rights law. We strongly recommend states amend their penal codes and no longer impose the death centers for any crimes including for drug-related offenses. In recent years we have seen a sharp increase in reports of extrajudicial killings of people perceived as a user of drugs or otherwise involved in the illicit drug trade. And I want to be very clear here, every human being, every human being, accused of an offense has the right to do process in a court of law. And anyone who is responsible for killing such a person, whether or not the perpetrator or those responsible are agents of the state is committing a serious offense that must be investigated, prosecuted and sanctioned. People who use drugs are also frequently subjected to arbitrary detention or related abuses by law enforcement agencies. Compulsory drug detention centers are inconsistent with human rights laws, often involving multiple forms of human rights abuse and they require comprehensive review and replacement with voluntary services in the community. We also receive frequent reports that people who use drugs are required by police to give money or sex in exchange for not being arrested. And members of minority communities or people of African descent or LGTBI people may also be targeted for discriminatory policing in violation of their human rights. People do not lose their human rights because they use drugs. They have the same right of all of us, to life, to health, to non-discrimination, to freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, and to freedom from torture and other forms of ill treatment among others. It is important to ensure that drug policies and programs take into account the specific circumstances faced by women and girls in this context. This includes a very sharp increase in the number of women in prison in many countries, which is frequently due to rising numbers of women being incarcerated for drug-related offenses, although in many cases the role was non-violent and relatively minor. Their high rate of convictions may be due in part to failure to ensure that the administration of justice is gender sensitive. Taking into account factors such as women's relatively lack of access to effective legal representation of poverty and gender-based violence. Excellencies, last year 31 principals of agencies and entities in the UN system adopted a UN system common position to provide coordinated support to member states on human rights, rule of law, public health, development, and security matters in the context of drugs. It seeks to promote prevention and treatment, including harm reduction, and enhance action by justice and law enforcement system to stop organized crime and protect rather than target people who use drugs. I strongly encourage member states and civil society, health professionals, and others to support the work of the UN coordination task team in rebalancing drug policies towards a public health approach. People who have fallen into the trap of drug dependency need help to rebuild their lives. Government policies should not become a greater threat to their well-being than the drugs which they're using. Disproportionate and unjust punishment can only increase their suffering and drive them into a deeper marginalization and misery. I have no doubt that principled and comprehensive policies which respect dignity, human rights, and justice will reduce both demand and supply, protect health, and as envisaged in the outcome document of the 2016 UNGAS of the World Drug Problem, contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals. But they will also help to build more respectful governance and justice systems and societies and may help to repair some of the profound human misery and trauma which so often can be found in the experiences of people who become dependent on drug. And we will be with you on harm reduction and supporting all the interventions that you're doing. Thank you so much.