Auditorium A2 | Maison de la Paix
The Global Health Centre has the pleasure to invite H.E. Ambassador Beatriz Londoño-Soto to discuss the shift in the approach to achieve sustainable development and effective drug policies.
While the global response to drugs at the multilateral level has focused, since the 20th United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) held in 1998, on demand reduction, supply reduction and international judicial cooperation; the 30th UNGASS on drugs, held in 2016, added new concerns and new tools to the global response, including access to essential medicines, the rights of children, women and indigenous people, as well as human rights and alternative development. These new elements reflect the efforts, born of effective needs on the ground, of UN Member States to address drugs and the consequences of current drug control policies in a comprehensive manner, taking into account public and individual health, economic development, social inclusion and citizen security.
The Global Health Centre has the pleasure to invite H.E. Ambassador Beatriz Londoño-Soto to this dialogue session to discuss, through Colombia’s experience at the multilateral level and within UN fora, the shift in the approach from a law-enforcement lens to a social, economic and environmental approach to achieve sustainable development and effective drug policies.
Dr. Beatriz Londoño-Soto has been the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva since May 2015. Prior to that she served as Ambassador to the Government of Switzerland (2013-2015), Minister of Health and Social Protection (2012), Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection (2010-2012), Director of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare - ICBF (2002-2006) and Secretary of Health in Bogotá (1995-1999).
Ambassador Londoño has extensive experience in the areas of administration, advisory and consulting for the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies and development projects, mainly in the social policy field. A surgeon by training, Ambassador Londoño is a graduate of the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. She also holds a specialisation in Anaesthesiology from the University of Antioquia, as well as a master's degree in Public Health from Harvard University.
Join us for the conversation - the floor is yours!