An international declaration, born in Eindhoven in March 2025. Anchored in Article 33 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We didn't write this down. The world wrote this down. Now we ask whether you'll sign too.
The Declaration asks governments, institutions, businesses, communities and citizens to endorse and put the following seven principles into practice. No abstract statement. A concrete call.
Everyone, and children in particular, has the right to live in a drug-free environment. That right weighs heavier than the freedom of a few to normalise drugs.
Preventing someone from starting drug use is the first and most important strategy. Treatment, recovery and rehabilitation are the end goal of care, not continued use under supervision.
Children have the right to protection from environments that trivialise or encourage drug use. In line with Article 33 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Parents, families, communities, grassroots organisations and businesses are invited to take the lead. Close to the source the approach is most effective.
Just as the world says: no to child labour. No to sexual abuse. No to children in war. So the Declaration says: no to the normalisation of drug use.
International treaties do not recognise a right to use illegal drugs. They do recognise a child's right to protection. That inequality isn't a detail. It's the core.
Substances like cannabis, LSD, MDMA or psilocybin only get registered as medicine if they've followed the full scientific certification route. No detours. No exceptions.
At the international conference Wake-up, Drug-Free is the Key, experts in policy, treatment and research came together with affected families, grassroots organisations and youth organisations.
For two days they listened to what is really happening. For two days they negotiated what is needed. At the end there was a declaration. Shaped by the room itself. Put on paper by three organisations.
We were one of those three.
Full recordings, sessions and speakers from the Eindhoven Conference 2025, published by OVOM.
Watch on YouTube →The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed in 1989 by 196 countries. It's the most ratified human rights treaty in the world. And it's the only human rights treaty that explicitly talks about illegal drugs.
Article 33 obligates governments to take all necessary measures to protect children from the consequences of illegal drug use. Just like the Convention does for child labour (Article 32), sexual abuse (Article 34), trafficking (Article 35) and the use of children in armed conflict (Article 38).
But over the past years attention to prevention has declined. The pressure to normalise drug use under the banner of harm reduction has grown. International institutions that should be protecting are taking sides. The Declaration is the counter-voice. A reminder of what was once agreed upon.
The full text of the Declaration is available as PDF in eight languages. Click a language to open the PDF on OVOM.
We are 195. The goal is 10,000. Every signature is a human saying: this deserves protection. This deserves a call. This deserves not looking away.
Sign the Declaration Or support our work with a donation →
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