FORUT granted Consultative Status at ECOSOC

Two years of waiting have now come to an end. By a decision in New York on the 25th of July, FORUT was granted Special Consultative Status at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

Senior Advisor of FORUT, Øystein Bakke, explains that FORUT has for many years been collaborating with a number of UN agencies, in particular with the World Health Organization around the development, adoption and implementation of the Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol.

“Our new status at ECOSOC opens up possibilities to strengthen and widen this collaboration. One consequence is that FORUT will have easier access to meetings and processes in the UN, something which makes it easier to contribute with our technical capacity in the field of alcohol and drugs, gender issues, child rights etc”, says Øystein Bakke.

Secretary General Lønstad explains that FORUT will, in line with the organisation’s strategic plans, give priority to these issues:

• Collaboration with WHO, in Geneva and the regions, on alcohol policy development, prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases.
• The UN drugs policy discussions leading up to the next high-level meeting in 2019.
• Collaboration with UNDP and WHO on activities around alcohol, gender-based violence and hiv/aids.
• Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.