During the 60^th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), taking place from 8 September – 8 October 2025, the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) engaged in multiple activities to highlight both the harmful impacts of prohibitionist drug policies and the gains achievable through human rights-based reforms.

Notably, Colombia spearheaded a resolution, adopted by consensus, on addressing the human rights implications of drug policies, supported by the Core Group of Mexico, Switzerland, Brazil, Uruguay, Albania, Guatemala, Greece, and Portugal. Building on previous resolutions in 2015, 2018, and 2023, this resolution marks the first HRC drug policy resolution not directly tied to UN processes in New York (2016 UNGASS on drugs) or Vienna (2019 Ministerial Declaration and 2024 Midterm Review). Moreover, the resolution mandates the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to produce a report on the impacts of drug policies on the human rights of women and girls, and establishes the HRC’s regular vigilance of the human rights impacts of drug policies, through regular resolutions of the Core Group. This addresses a key gap in monitoring, as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) does not regularly report on human rights in its flagship World Drug Report.

In this context, the Global Commission engaged in a series of side events, roundtable discussions, and bilateral meetings during the HRC session.

On 16 September, the Global Commission, together with the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), co-organized the side event, “Drug policy reform: A powerful tool to prevent serious human rights violations”, co-sponsored by Colombia, Czechia, Greece, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, Uruguay, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), the World Health Organization (WHO), UN-Habitat, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Dejusticia, Elementa DDHH, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), Harm Reduction International (HRI), Hayat, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Skoun Lebanese Addictions Centre, and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) International.

Following opening remarks from H.E. Ambassador Gustavo Gallón, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the UN in Geneva, Commissioner Ruth Dreifuss provided keynote remarks, emphasizing the importance of the Colombian-led resolution on human rights and drug policy, and highlighting how punitive drug control measures disproportionately impact the rights of women and girls. The session was moderated by Ann Fordham, Executive Director of IDPC, who guided participants through a panel of speakers sharing country-specific examples of how drug policy reform can advance human rights. The panel included Vielta Parhomenko, Vice Chair of the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), from Ukraine (by video message); Marta Machado, National Secretary for Drug Policy of Brazil; Lee Edson Yarcia, OHCHR, from Philippines (by video message); and Charity Monareng, Executive Director of SSDP International, from South Africa.