President Leonel Fernández will be speaking at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem to be held in New York City, this month. President Fernández joins President Clinton and 28 other chiefs of state that will be present at the meetings. President Fernández is scheduled to speak at 12:30 pm on Monday, 8 June. That same morning, President bill Clinton will address the Assembly at 10:30 am. President Fernández will travel to New York on 7 June. The General Assembly is convening a Special Session on the world drug problem in New York, from 8 to 10 June 1998. This Session will mark the 10th anniversary of the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The session will assess the international drug problem and develop a forward-looking strategy for the twenty-first century, centered around the basic principle of a balanced approach between supply and demand reduction. Commenting on the Special Session , Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), recently said: "The Special Session should be a turning point for the world to go forward with renewed energy on drug control. There are many reasons for optimism in this regard: a politically more cooperative international climate devoid of the East-West and North-South ideological divides, sophisticated technology such as satellite monitoring systems; and the accumulated knowledge of the international community in drug control activities." Representatives from 130 Governments will discuss the draft Political Declaration proposed for adoption at the Special Session. It sets out a comprehensive global strategy designed to tackle simultaneously all aspects of the drug problem and puts forward a bold objective: a drastic simultaneous reduction of both illicit supply and demand for drugs by the year 2008.
