The event addressed innovative practices, especially aimed at indigenous communities, as a sustainable solution to the impacts of drug trafficking in the Amazon
Vienna, Austria, 11/03/2025 – The increase in drug trafficking and other illicit activities linked to organized crime in the Amazon has had a severe impact on the region’s indigenous peoples, threatening their cultural heritage, territories and one of the world’s most critical ecosystems. In this context, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Brazil organized on Tuesday (11), during the 68th Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in Vienna (Austria), a side event entitled “Drug Policies and Indigenous Peoples: Strengthening Community Resilience through a Human Rights-Based Approach and Alternative Development in the Amazon Region”. The event, organized in partnership with Brazil’s SENAD and with the support of Germany. France, Colombia and Peru, discussed innovative practices within the concept of Alternative Development that can generate solutions to strengthen these communities.
UNODC, in its global mandate, works to produce responses to the challenges of illicit drugs, organized crime, including those affecting the environment, and corruption, promoting balanced approaches that integrate prevention, supply reduction and sustainable development. In the context of Alternative Development, UNODC seeks to offer viable and legitimate economic alternatives to vulnerable communities, reducing their dependence on illicit markets and criminal activities, while promoting environmental protection and respect for human rights.
The representativeof UNODC in Brazil, Elena Abbati, mentioned that the Brazilian office has been working with eight projects in the Amazon over the last four years, highlighting the experiences of three of them: the Centre for Drug Studies and Community Social Development (Cdesc), the Tapajós Project and SAR-TI. “The alternative development approach is at the centre of the discussion today, especially for indigenous peoples who are at particular risk living in fragile ecosystems. International cooperation is therefore essential to meet these challenges, as are partnerships between the public and private sectors,” she emphasised.
Cdesc, working alongside with the National Secretariat for Drug Policy of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Senad/MJSP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has participated in hearings with indigenous peoples as part of the study on Alternative Development in Drug Policy developed in conjunction with indigenous associations with the aim of understanding how an alternative development project could be implemented in the region to help improve the socio-bio-economic chain. For its part, the UNODC Tapajós Project seeks to support initiatives to tackle forcedlabourand human trafficking in gold mining in the state of Pará through research, strengthening public security,criminal justice and alternative development. SAR-TI, implemented with the support of Italy, seeks to strengthen early warning systems for environmental crimes related to illegal mining in indigenous territories.
Abbati also pointed out that the 2013 United Nations Guiding Principles on Alternative Development emphasize that an adequate approach to poverty and the specific structural challenges of each region requires targeted measures that benefit women, children, young people and vulnerable groups. In addition, the document stresses the importance of integrating marginalized communities into economic and political systems, guaranteeing them access to financial and social services.
Local empowerment
The National Secretary for Drug Policy at Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Marta Machado, also defended integrated and multidimensional solutions to tackle drug trafficking in the Amazon and increase the resilience of indigenous peoples. “Traditional drug policies have failed to contain organized crime or protect communities, often deepening inequalities. Law enforcement alone will not dismantle these networks. Brazil is committed to a new drug policy, incorporating Alternative Development as a key strategy for territorial resilience, economic autonomy and environmental protection, adapted to our role as a drug transit country,” he argued.
Marta Machado also presented Senad’s National Strategy for Mitigating and Redressing the Impact of Drug Trafficking on Indigenous Populations. The aim of the initiative is, among other things, to ensure that indigenous populations have access to legal assistance, drug prevention programmes, sustainable development opportunities and fundamental rights.
The president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), JoeniaWapichana, also took part in the event, highlighting the challenge of protecting Brazil’s indigenous areas, especially given that almost half of them occupy border areas. “We are under great pressure from organizedcrime and we have to protect areas with different complexities. To do this, we need to rely on solutions coming from the government, from international organizationsand also based on local strategies,” he said.
The parallel event also saw the online participation of a young indigenous communicator, Tumi Matis, from the Javari Valley. “We suffer mainly from the issue of alcohol and drugs. We live on the second largest indigenous land in Brazil, we work and fight so that we can live well in our territory.”
International experiences
In addition to ongoing initiatives in Brazil, Colombia and Peru highlighted their drug policies and innovative alternative development approaches to deal with the economic and socio-environmental vulnerabilities faced by indigenous communities in the Amazon. Relevant studies, recommendations and international efforts on the subject were also presented, involving the participation of Germany and France.
The drug policy adopted in Colombia, for example, has eight lines of work, including a specific one to address populations vulnerable to the drug market and trafficking and one to care for the environment. “For the first time in history, we will be consulting the indigenous peoples of Colombia about the country’s drug policy, making an important technical effort, but with an ethical commitment to understanding local realities,” explained Alexander Rivera, director of Drug Policy and Related Activities at the Colombian Ministry of Justice and Law.
Carlos Sánchez del Águila, Minister Counsellor of Peru’s National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (DEVIDA), presented the pillars of drug policy in the country, commenting on the impacts of coca cultivation and the importance of strengthening territorial governance. The event was also attended by Bárbara Souto, coordinator of Cdesc, and Sofia Wahl, consultant for the Global Partnership on Drug Policy and Development (GPDPD) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Alternative Development – For the past 25 years, UNODC has led the way in supporting member states in implementing drug control policies, with a focus on alternative development, recognised by the UN General Assembly in 1998 as a strategy to eliminate illicit cultivation through sustainable rural development measures. The UNODC concept is based on the understanding that drug-growing areas are generally poor and isolated regions, where the lack of infrastructure, markets and opportunities leads to illicit cultivation. Alternative development seeks to offer sustainable livelihoods to these communities, including those that have already abandoned illicit cultivation or are at risk of resuming it.
Source:
