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UNDP values your insights and experiences. Please feel free to share your work and comments in whichever format you prefer. You don’t need to address all the guiding questions—they are provided simply to guide our discussion. |
Development-oriented responses to the illegal drug economy have traditionally been framed under the rubric of alternative development — interventions designed to support rural and small-scale communities that cultivate drug-linked crops to transition into licit livelihoods and local economies. These approaches have been instrumental in highlighting the development dimensions of the drug phenomenon and in advancing the view that responses must go beyond law enforcement alone.
Since its origins in the 1980s, the alternative development paradigm has evolved substantially. Contemporary practice prioritizes the establishment of sustainable livelihoods and community resilience rather than narrow eradication targets, which have been widely criticized for undermining long-term development outcomes. Good practice now emphasizes long-term funding commitments; meaningful participation of affected communities in program design and decision-making; gender-sensitive programming; environmental stewardship; equitable access to licit markets; and careful sequencing ensuring viable alternative livelihoods are in place before and not conditional upon crop eradication.
Also, during this years CND, a resolution, jointly submitted by Germany, Peru, and Thailand, aimed to strengthen and update the United Nations Guiding Principles on Alternative Development—a framework that promotes sustainable, development-based solutions to the global drug problem, particularly the illicit cultivation of drug crops. Acknowledging persistent challenges such as drug trafficking, environmental degradation, poverty, and community vulnerability, the resolution underscores the importance of aligning drug policy with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, human rights, and national sovereignty. It mandates the UNODC to convene an expert group meeting in 2025 to recommend updates to the Principles in light of emerging global issues, including climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and gender inequality. The resolution also calls for inclusive stakeholder engagement, including civil society and other UN entities, with donor support to ensure broad participation and resource mobilization.
Guiding questions:
- How have you or your organization worked on alternative development and what are some positive results you have achieved?
- What are the main barriers and difficulties you have encountered when working on alternative development?
- How do the Guidelines relate to alternative development efforts in your context?
- How can alternative development programs better integrate human rights principles and community priorities?
- What role should affected communities play in shaping and evaluating alternative development initiatives?
- What policy or programmatic changes are needed to ensure alternative development contributes to equity, sustainability, and rights protection?
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Comments (6)
Dear Participants,
Welcome to the SparkBlue discussion. In this section, we will explore the various implications of drug policy for development. As you know, drugs are mentioned only once in the Sustainable Development Goals – and not in relation to development – yet drug markets and drug policies have profound developmental impacts.
We are dealing with a trillion-dollar illicit drug economy and hundreds of millions – perhaps billions – of dollars spent annually on punitive “war on drugs” approaches that have failed to deliver positive outcomes. It is therefore time to examine innovative, evidence-based approaches to drug policy that advance the Sustainable Development Goals and promote sustainable and inclusive development that leaves no one behind.
UNDP has been leading this conversation since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs through a series of discussion papers (here and here) and debates on the intersections between drug policy and development. Most recently, we released the third paper in this series, which explores new and evolving trends in the global drug landscape – including regulated and legal markets – and their implications for human rights, health, gender, and the environment, as well as innovative approaches to alternative development.
This discourse also inspired the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy, which provide a framework for integrating human rights principles into drug policy across the full spectrum of development, health, and justice systems.
You can learn more by accessing the full third discussion paper (available in English) and its executive summary and strategic considerations (available in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish).
I hope this introduction helps kick-start our discussion, and I look forward to your valuable contributions.
Many thanks once again for joining us!
In the EECA region the important context we need to keep in mind nowadays is a challenging situation with freedom of expression and freedom of assembly coused by the shrinking civic space. We see the cyclical impact of punitive laws on civil society. While that UN date originated to strengthen international cooperation against illicit drugs, the Support Don’t Punish campaign has reclaimed it as a day to oppose stigma, criminalization, and injustice, and to elevate harm reduction, human rights, and community‐driven solutions. Our report’s exposure of “foreign agent” designations, drug propaganda bans, and anti-LGBTQI+ measures in 29 CEECA countries directly exemplifies the very “war-on-drugs”-style repressions.
in EHRA recent report Mapping Repression: Legal Trends Impacting Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (https://harmreductioneurasia.org/news/mapping-repressions) we document the rise of punitive “foreign agent” laws, drug propaganda bans, and anti-LGBTQI+ legislation across 29 countries in the CEECA region, revealing how authoritarian legal measures are undermining human rights, public health, and civic freedoms . Key findings at a glance
We think that this issue of the shrinking space need to be addressed through in advocacy, solidarity networks, and legal challenges to defend civic space.
Thank you for highlighting the issue of shrinking public space and the criminalization of right to assembly and reunion. Civil society organizations in many countries around the world are the ones standing at the front lines, holding the line against pushback and defending hard-earned gains.
In this context, securing sustainable funding for community-led and rights-based organizations becomes not just a technical issue, but a matter of supporting democratic participation and upholding democratic values. When civic space shrinks and punitive laws multiply, these organizations often lose access to resources precisely because they are doing the hardest, most necessary work. Not only do they challenge stigma, they protect human rights in environments that punish such efforts and in some cases, put their own lives at risk.
In this context, may I ask if you consider that CSOS are recieving the protection, political backing, and financial support they need to keep going and to continue defending public space from donors? Do you think these issues are considered when developing cooperation agendas for development?
Dear Juana,
You are absolutely right—sustainable funding for civil society and self-organized community groups is essential to ensure their continued work, not only in providing health and social support to the most marginalized populations, including people who use drugs, but also in advancing advocacy and human rights protection. Even where state mechanisms such as ombudspersons or formal rights protection systems exist, and healthcare services are available, these structures often fail to reach criminalized and marginalized communities without the active engagement of civil society. Continued and adequate funding for community-led and civil society organizations is therefore key to safeguarding health, well-being, and rights protection.
For ADRA, alternative development and sustainable livelihoods are inseparable from human rights, gender equality, and social justice. Programs that prioritize community resilience, skills development, and economic empowerment particularly for women, youth, and marginalized groups have proven more effective than punitive interventions.
Investing in education, awareness-raising, and social support structures fosters sustainable change and addresses the root causes of vulnerability and marginalization. This approach also strengthens communities’ ability to resist coercive or discriminatory policies while promoting dignity and agency for all members.
We encourage UNDP to continue promoting inclusive, community-driven strategies that support affected populations in their own initiatives and amplify their voices in policy development.
PERLE SOCIALE believes that alternative development and sustainable livelihoods are essential pillars of rights-based drug policy reform. In the Beninese context, small-scale producers and vulnerable youth often turn to illicit activities due to the absence of economic alternatives and rural investment. Applying the International Guidelines means promoting inclusive local economies, access to land, and sustainable agricultural programs that empower women and young people. PERLE SOCIALE advocates for integrating harm reduction into rural development projects and ensuring that livelihood programs are accompanied by psychosocial support, education, and gender-sensitive capacity building. Sustainable development must not only replace illegal economies but also strengthen resilience, autonomy, and social justice within communities.