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PRESS RELEASE

Commission on Narcotic Drugs establishes Expert Panel to contribute to the 2029 global drug policy review

Vienna, 12 March 2026

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), at its sixty-ninth session, announced today the members of the new Expert Panel established to provide recommendations for the global drug policy review to take place under the Commission in 2029.

Welcoming the selection of the Expert Panel, H.E. Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan (Armenia), Chair of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs said: “ I am confident that the collective expertise and experience represented in this Panel will contribute to informed and constructive reflections in support of the Commission’s work. The Commission looks forward with interest to the recommendations that will emerge from the Panel’s work.”

In Resolution 68/6 on “strengthening the international drug control system: a path to effective implementation”, adopted at last year’s session, the Commission decided to establish under its auspices a multidisciplinary panel of 19 independent experts. acting in their personal capacity, to prepare a clear, specific and actionable set of recommendations aimed at enhancing the implementation of the international drug control treaties, as well as the obligations of other relevant international instruments and the achievement of all international drug policy commitments, with a view to contributing to the review to be conducted by the Commission in 2029.

The Panel comprises ten members selected by the Commission, five members selected by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, three members selected by the International Narcotics Control Board and one member selected by the Director-General of the World Health Organization.

The following experts were selected to serve on the Panel (in alphabetical order):

Cornelis DE JONCHEERE (Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Natalie Yu-Lin MORRIS-SHARMA (Singapore)

Virginia Patton PRUGH (United States of America)

The Secretary-General appointed Allan ROCK (Canada) to serve as one of the Co-Chairs of the Panel. At the ongoing session, the Commission appointed Natalie Yu-Lin MORRIS-SHARMA (Singapore) to serve as the other Co-Chair . With these appointments, the Expert Panel is now complete. The UNODC Secretariat to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs will support the work of the Panel.

For further information please contact:

Chief, UNODC Advocacy Section Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-4990 Email: unodc-press[at]un.org