Stefano Berterame
Stefano Berterame is an Italian researcher and international civil servant, chief of the narcotics section of the International Narcotics Control Board for more than a decade, and twice the Secretary ad'interim of the institution.
Education
Berterame studied at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He reports having worked in public relations at Thales Alenia Space, and project manager for NGOs. In the 1980s and 1990s, he published about field work in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Somalia. In the 1990s, he published on topics of migration.International Civil Service
After a brief passage at UNICEF, he eventually became Associate Social Affaire Adviser at the UN International Drug Control Program Program in 1992. In the early 2000s he was involved with the HIV program.International Narcotics Control Board
In 2013, Berterame was named Chief of the INCB's Narcotics Control and Estimates Section, a position he maintained until 2025. Upon nomination of Andrés Finguerut at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in June 2020, Berterame replaced Fingerut as the INCB Secretary ad'interim, until the naming of Mark Colhoun in March 2021 at that position. In April 2025, Berterame became newly "acting secretary" of the INCB, effectively becoming "officer in charge" of the INCB by 2026.As INCB Narcotics Chief, Berterame participated in several INCB "country missions" including to Venezuela, Argentina, Russia, Switzerland, Australia, Jamaica, Chile, or Qatar, among others. In 2015, Berterame was part of the controversial mission to Uruguay which goal "was to discuss the legislation on the non-medical use of cannabis and its implementation in Uruguay."