The thirtieth regular session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is scheduled for 17 to 21 May 2021. The provisional annotated agenda has been published on the website of the Commission and will be updated according to the present arrangements as appropriate. Additionally, the Commission decided to hold a ceremonial opening segment in commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Commission.

The present proposed organizational arrangements were drafted in response to the recent developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into consideration the regulations by the host country, Austria, and the guidelines of the Vienna International Centre.

The regular session will be conducted in a hybrid format, combining an in-person component with online participation. The in-person participation will be limited to United Nations Member States, and a limited number of delegates from UN Entities, Institutes of the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network (PNI), IGOs and NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC. The plenary meetings and the meetings of the Committee of the Whole (COW) will be held in the plenary room of the M-Building (Plenary/COW hall), the biggest room in the VIC, in a consecutive manner. The pre-session consultations will be held in a hybrid format on 14 May 2021, in the plenary/COW hall in the M-Building, from 12 noon to 2 pm. A technical test of the remote interpretation platform will be offered for delegates with speaker roles in the Plenary or the COW by conference services in connection with the pre-session consultations (14 May, 10-11:30 a.m. and 2-3 p.m.). A workshop of the PNI will be held in a hybrid format on the theme of the thematic discussion during the first meeting of the Committee of the Whole, prior to its consideration of draft resolutions (Monday, 17 May, 6-8 p.m.). There will be in the plenary/COW room one seat reserved for in-person participation for each United Nations Member State. In addition, there will be eight seats for UN Entities, eight seats for PNI, eight seats for IGOs and eight seats for NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC reserved in the Plenary/COW hall, which will be assigned on a “first come first served”-basis. The in-person slots for NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC will be determined through the Civil Society Unit of UNODC and the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. In light of the COVID-19 developments, journalists will be requested to follow the session online. 

COVID-19 in prisons: vaccinations and responses

 | 13:10 - 14:00 (CEST)| Organised by Penal Reform International with the support of the UNODC HIV/AIDS Section and the World Health Organization 


Addressing the global crisis of mass incarceration of women: Options for drug policy reform at times of COVID-19

 | 14:10 - 15:00 (CET Vienna) | Organised by the International Drug Policy Consortium, AWID, Penal Reform International, the Washington Office on Latin America, the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales and Dejusticia


Tackling criminalization of the poor and most marginalised

 | 14:10 - 15:00 (CEST) | Organised by the International Legal Foundation with the support of the Fair Trials, Open Society Foundations and Penal Reform International 

Simultaneous interpretation in all official United Nations languages will be provided for the Plenary and the Committee of the Whole.

30th Session of the commission on crime prevention and criminal justice

 is Penal Reform International’s annual flagship report published with the Thailand Institute of Justice, identifying the key trends and challenges in prison systems worldwide. Over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, this launch event will present key findings from the report and explore trends in the global prison population, prison policy and practice, and ongoing challenges for prison management.

Join the discussion online using #GlobalPrisonTrends.

Moderated by Olivia Rope, Executive Director, Penal Reform International

Opening remarks
Ruth Dreifuss, Former President of Switzerland, and member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy

Global Prison Trends 2021 – key trends and messages from the report
Tríona Lenihan, Policy and International Advocacy Manager, Penal Reform International

The COVID-19 pandemic and prison policy in Latin America
María Luisa Romero, Former Minister of Government of Panama and member of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture

Health and mental health in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic
Prof. Hans Wolff, Vice-president, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture

Challenging discrimination in the criminal justice system
Donna Hylton, Author and criminal justice activist who spent 27 years in prison, USA

Closing address
Phiset Sa-ardyen, Executive Director, Thailand Institute of Justice

Global prison trends 2021 - Report launch

Information session for NGOs that are interested in applying for ECOSOC Consultative Status

Join us to get answers to the following questions:

What is Consultative Status, which organizations are eligible and what are its benefits?

How the application process works for application submission to NGO Branch until ECOSOC decision?

What are the main components of the package?

The next HepHIV conference will take place 5-7 May 2021 in a mixed face-to-face and virtual format involving participants from across community, public health and the health system. The conference will focus on the latest evidence, best practices, achievements and challenges in the field of viral hepatitis, HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention, testing and care, highlighting progress achieved in testing policy implementation since the ECDC integrated testing guidance was released in 2018. The conference will also specifically address the impact of and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic on the availability and provision of testing and other health services.

Abstract submissions are invited for the HepHIV 2021 Lisbon & Virtual Conference. The call for abstracts for HepHIV 2021 closes on 7 February 2021 and abstract decisions will be communicated to authors early April 2021.




HepHIV abstracts should contain original material from recent work that is not yet in publication. The HepHIV conference encourages research on testing and linkage to care as well as best practice examples and lessons learned, also in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also abstracts on integrated testing and linkage to care of key populations within the fields of viral hepatitis, HIV, STIs and TB are encouraged.


Please see below the list of topics/ tracks available for submitted abstracts for HepHIV 2021. (We encourage abstracts which focus on innovation, EE&CA and underserved populations):

Integrated testing programs for hepatitis/HIV/TB/STI

Innovative testing services during the COVID-19 pandemic; lessons learned, including community engagement in COVID-19 testing

New testing and sampling technologies to increase testing coverage, e.g. home-based HIV testing/sampling, finger prick, oral fluid, urine etc.; obstacles overcome

Combination prevention for hepatitis/HIV/TB/STI in the COVID/post-COVID era

PrEP integration with combination prevention, including PrEP for heterosexual men, women, trans people and other underserved potential PrEP users

Models of testing and linkage to care for PWID and PWUD

Testing implementation in prisons and other closed settings

Engagement and integration of marginalised populations to develop innovative testing programmes that address multiple vulnerabilities

HepHIV 2021 Lisbon & virtual conference

YouthRISE Nigeria invites you to be a part of a thought-provoking conservation on Tuesday, 4th May 2021, as we unveil the realities of adolescent girls and young women, including those who use drugs, as impacted by the dynamics of social policies. This platform will unveil the advocacy tool - Untold Gender Stories of Young Women and those Who Use Drugs", that captures real life stories and probes for humane actions.



Untold gender stories of adolescent girls and young women

April 29th through May 2nd, hundreds of Students for Sensible Drug Policy members, alumni, community members, and allies will come together from around the globe for our second virtual drug policy conference.

Registration is live! Click here to register

#Sensible2021: The Virtual Drug Policy Conference, Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s annual international conference made by and for young grassroots advocates, will bring hundreds of activists and allies together online April 29th through May 2nd.

 The cutting-edge core conference program includes prominent keynote speakers and panels addressing urgent and emerging subjects in drug policy reform, harm reduction, leadership, organizing, and advocacy.

Ample opportunities for virtual networking will be available throughout the week.

Panel: Law Reforms for Effective Response to Drugs and Related issues

Sunday, May 2nd at 1:15pm-2:15pm / 5:15-6:15 GMT

Maria-Goretti Ane Loglo *15, Africa Consultant for International Drug Policy Consortium

Wilson Box, Executive Director, Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network

Charity Monareng, PhD Candidate at UCT and Parliamentary and Policy Research Officer, TB HIV Care

The theme of this topic will be purely related to the law Reforms in different country in Africa Sierra Leone to be specific, especially laws that are related to incarceration of people who use drug with no alternative for rehabilitation. This topic will help highlight some of these sections and clauses in some of our law books in some Africa countries that are unfriendly to drug user and humanity. This will prepare us for our advocacy for law reforms with specific references in the various law books.

#Sensible2021: The virtual drug policy conference

: To raise awareness on, and interest in, the role of the European Prevention Curriculum (EUPC) in advocating for the application of science-based strategies in policy- and decision-making at local level.

: Prevention practice in Europe does not always keep pace with advances in prevention science, and available guidance, standards and registries of evidence-based interventions are not always sufficient to change policymakers’ funding decisions. This webinar aims to raise awareness on the role of the EUPC in advocating for the application of science-based strategies in decision-making at local level. The EUPC includes training for Decision-, Opinion-, and Policy-makers (DOPs) on how to prioritise evidence-based interventions and policies and on how to advocate for them. This represents a paradigm shift from offering guidance (‘let things happen’) to actively promoting change in decision-making (‘make things happen’). Speakers and stakeholders from Belgium, Germany, Estonia and Croatia will gather in conversation around this topic.

: This event is the third in a new wave of EMCDDA webinars being offered in 2021. EMCDDA webinars are designed to give a voice to professionals working in the drugs field and are conceived as conversations around key topics of interest and emerging challenges, as well as a means to build relations with potential or future stakeholders. The 2021 programme of webinars follows a testing phase in 2020, which saw seven COVID-19-related webinars rolled out between May and December. Chaired by EMCDDA staff members, the webinars are open to professionals working in the drugs field and other individuals with an interest in the topic.

Maximilian von Heyden: Finder Institute for Prevention Research, Germany

Triin Vilms: National Institute for Health Development, TAI, Estonia

Law enforcement — Ivan Paksic: Ministry of Internal Affairs, Croatia

Education system — Cynthia Deman: Centre for Mental Health Care Waas en Dender, Belgium

Local policymaking — Frederick Groeger-Roth: Lower-Saxony Ministry of Justice, Germany

: Marica Ferri and Gregor Burkhart, EMCDDA

: EMCDDA opening remarks, two presentations (20 minutes in total), three panellists (question-guided discussion), Q&A from attendees.

: The webinar is open to EMCDDA staff members, NFP network, and external individuals.

Participation is possible upon registration, after which the person will receive a link to connect.

: 28.04.2021 — 12.00–13.30 (Lisbon time), 13.00–14.30 (CET)

Advocacy for science-based prevention: the evidence doesn’t speak for itself

There are many sides to any story. Things are not always what they seem.

What if our drug policies, programs, and services can be more responsive, more impactful, more engaging, and support a greater number of people in more long-lasting and sustainable ways?

is a 4-day interactive online experience that gathers Philippine and international experts from multiple disciplines to discuss drugs the way we’ve never done before. We put together a wide range of expertise and experience in one big summit to fit your needs wherever you’re coming from and whatever it is you’re doing. Topics range from:

 - Ziff Professor of Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University

 - Chairman, Malaysian AIDS Foundation; President, International AIDS Society

 - Executive Director and Founder, Gadejuristen - The Danish Street Lawyers

 - Founder and Director, Center for Optimal Living

 - Executive Director, Harm Reduction International

 - Founder and Executive Director, SCDI, Vietnam

 - Freelance Journalist and Researcher: Public Health, Criminal Legal System

 - Co-Founder and Director, Harm Reduction Therapy Center

 - Co-Founder and Executive Director, Harm Reduction Therapy Center

 - Executive Director, Rumah Singgah PEKA

 - Independent Consultant, Public Health and Public Safety

 - Regional Director: Asia, International Drug Policy Consortium

 - Consultant, Coact: Expertise in Drug Use and HIV

 - Women’s Program Coordinator, AKSI Keadilan Indonesia

 - Professor, Family and Community Medicine: University of California, San Francisco

 - Vice President, Malaysian Alliance for Drug Policy Reform

 - Addiction Counselor and Family Systems: Developer, Life Process Program

Philippine harm reduction summit

By Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines,

This global virtual summit will bring together Indigenous leaders from throughout North, Central and South America as well as researchers, practitioners, community builders and other experts from around the world. We will discuss the potential benefits and harms of the globalization of psychedelic plant medicines and explore how we can offer reciprocity to honor the Indigenous cultures and traditions that these medicines come from. It is vital that members of the psychedelic community help support Indigenous groups and the traditional spiritual and ecological knowledge they preserve and practice. This gathering is a follow-up to our conference, Plantas Sagradas en las Américas, held in Mexico in 2018. Like our previous conferences, this event reflects the mission of Chacruna by applying a multidisciplinary approach for creating intercultural dialogues and building bridges between Indigenous traditions and mainstream psychedelic science and policy. Indigenous voices have often been marginalized in the contemporary psychedelic conversation, and this event seeks to spotlight these voices and the invaluable wisdom they carry. We will explore how psychoactive plants have been used throughout history and in different geographical areas, as well as their use and active compounds in multiple contexts; including scientific research, empirical experience, cultural manifestations and the ways in which the state has administered these practices. Presentations will address the traditional and modern uses of various psychoactive plants and include a diverse range of perspectives and fields of knowledge. In doing so, this conference invites us to rethink dichotomies such as sacred vs. profane, modern vs. traditional, legal vs. illegal, and natural vs. artificial, thus bringing much-needed complexity and nuance to the mainstream conversation.

In parallel with this event, Chacruna will launch its new Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative of the Americas, a comprehensive online resource that will allow people to connect with and donate to grassroots Indigenous nonprofits and community initiatives at the local level.

Sacred Plants in the Americas II

A global consultation on peer work with people who use drugs and sex workers, led by MDM and supported by INPUD, ICRSE, EuroNPUD and Coact, took place on 23 March 2021. Against the backdrop of this consultation, EuroNPUD is organising Peer Works! webinar series and showcasing three examples of meaningful peer work focusing on peer-led harm reduction and OST literacy and rights.

Global Peer Work Consultation Feedback webinar will include a summary from the focus groups with peer workers and presentations about research into peer work and the model of the Global Peer Work Consultations. The webinar will include a cartoon video recording of the ndings of the Global Peer Work Consultation.

 Judy Chang (Australia), Mat Southwell (UK), Ernst Wisse (Netherlands).

Peer Works! Global peer work consultation feedback

This webinar is for specialist doctors involved in the treatment of hepatitis C (hepatologists, infectious disease specialists, doctors, other specialties who are eligible to deal with the treatment of hepatitis C); medical specialists working with people who use drugs (narcologists, doctors of various specialties who work in the penitentiary system) from the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The webinar is for clinicians treating patients with hepatitis C (eg hepatologists and infectious disease specialists) and clinicians working with people who inject drugs (eg addiction specialist, narcologists and prison doctors) on the situation with hepatitis C among people who inject drugs, including barriers in access to treatment and care in EECA;

, Specialist of infectious diseases and internal medicine. University Medical Centre Ljubljana and Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Member of EASL PPHC

, medical officer, regional focal point for hepatitis. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

, MD, PhD, Director of the Health Research Union, Georgia

, Director of the AGEP'C", Almaty. Kazakhstan.

, Executive Director of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association


• provide up-to-date information on the hepatitis C situation among people who inject drugs, including barriers to access to treatment and care);
• present the latest WHO and EASL recommendations, including the EASL policy statement on drug use in the context of the global goal of eliminating hepatitis C;
• Share best practices for responding to hepatitis C among people who inject drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Language: English and Russian with simultaneous translation.

Elimination of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs

In conversation with Kasia Malinowska, director of the Open Society Global Drug Policy Program, Carl Hart, one of the world’s foremost experts on drugs, argues that the greatest damage from drugs flows from their being illegal.

Dr. Hart is open about the fact that he uses drugs himself, in a happy balance with the rest of his full and productive life as a colleague, husband, father, and friend. In 

 he draws on decades of research and his own personal experience to argue definitively that the criminalization and demonization of drug use—not drugs themselves—have been a tremendous scourge on America, not least in reinforcing enduring structural racism.

This conversation is the first in a series of ongoing panel discussions and events Open Society Foundations will host to spotlight the 50th anniversary of the unjust and racist “war on drugs,” initiated by President Richard Nixon. The United States has spent billions of dollars on expanding its criminal justice infrastructure to accommodate increasingly aggressive policing, encouraged other countries to adopt oppressive drug policies, and has devastated Black and brown communities, even as levels of drug dependence and overdose deaths have spiraled out of control. Join us in holding our leaders accountable and promoting drug policies guided by social justice, public health, and human rights.

Past Events