Drug control intersects with much of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Member State pledge to leave no one behind. In line with the 2030 Agenda, the UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and the HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2016-2021: Connecting the Dots, the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy provide a comprehensive set of international legal standards for placing human dignity and sustainable development at the centre of Member State responses to illicit drug economies.

The guidelines cover a diverse set of substantive issues ranging from development to criminal justice to public health.  The guidelines were developed by a coalition of UN Member States, WHO, UNAIDS, UNDP and leading human rights and drug policy experts. The Guidelines are an example of the support that UNDP provides to practically integrate international human rights commitments into national, regional and global policy and programmes.