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26th February 2009
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IHRA Launches New Blog for CND
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The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) has launched a new web-log to monitor the proceedings at the upcoming 52nd session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). The new resource – www.CNDblog.org – will be administered in partnership with the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) and seeks to ensure transparency in the CND deliberations taking place in Vienna from the 11th to the 20th March 2009.
The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is the United Nations body tasked with overseeing global drug policy and, in 2009, will be overseeing a high-level review of the existing international approach with a view of setting the agenda for the next decade of drug control. In the past, CND has worked in relative secrecy – even asking registered NGO representatives to leave the room at certain times. CND does not produce public meeting minutes or summaries, and the meetings are not recorded for public viewing. This new blog is an attempt to provide regular updates and public records from CND for the benefit of the media, civil society and the public.
The reporting duties for www.CNDblog.org will be shared between a number of bloggers from various non-governmental organisations from around the world, all of whom will be present and observing the proceedings at the CND meeting. The updates will be uploaded as the debates themselves are taking place, making this blog the fastest and most complete public record of what is happening in Vienna.
Blogging will commence on Wednesday 11th March 2009 and will end on Friday 20th March 2009.
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25th February 2009
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Drug Use and HIV: A Warning for Sub-Saharan Africa
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A major report has been commissioned by STOP AIDS NOW! exploring the current developments in sub-Saharan Africa regarding HIV and drug use. The report – written by John-Peter Kools with input from the Sub-Saharan Africa Harm Reduction Network (SAHRN) – found evidence of the increasing availability and use of illicit drugs across the region coupled with a limited political response to address this and the inherent implications for HIV transmission. Injecting drug use has been reported in 31 of the 47 countries in this region – yet studies of this behaviour have only been conducted in five of those countries. In addition, the HIV risks associated with non-injecting drug use and alcohol consumption in the region pose additional challenges. The report warns that “injecting drug use and the related HIV risk behaviour… can potentially initiate new epidemics or accelerate existing ones”.
The report – entitled ‘Drug Use and HIV Risk among Young People in sub-Saharan Africa’ – goes on to outline the potential responses that could be adapted to, and implemented in, sub-Saharan Africa. These include harm reduction interventions such as needle and syringe programmes, community-based outreach, and voluntary counselling and testing services, which are described as “essential HIV prevention responses”. However, there are “very few” of these programmes across the region at present, and even less data. The report stresses that “Drug use is very likely to become a new challenge in the African HIV epidemic and addressing it will be an additional challenge on top of many others”, and urgently recommends the “development of HIV prevention responses for populations at risk”.
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20th February 2009
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Call for Expressions of Interest to Host Harm Reduction 2011
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IHRA is seeking expressions of interest from organisations who wish to host ‘Harm Reduction 2011: IHRA’s 22nd International Conference’ in April or May 2011. The conference is a way of sharing knowledge and supporting those working in the harm reduction arena around the world. It can be used as a vehicle to promote change and support developments in the host country and region, and is also a great opportunity for the hosts to promote their services, city, country and achievements. IHRA has always employed a policy of moving our international conference around the world. The first event took place in Liverpool, England in 1990 and it has since been held in Europe, Asia, Australia, South and North America – reflecting its global appeal.
In recent years, IHRA has entered into a management agreement with a professional event management organisation called the Conference Consortium. Through this agreement, the Conference Consortium will co-ordinate and manage the complex logistics of the conference. Importantly, this also means that the financial risks associated with any global event on this scale will lie with the Conference Consortium and IHRA (although we are happy to discuss other arrangements where these might be appropriate).
Those seeking to host the conference are expected to be able to raise substantial funding (in the region of US$150,000) towards the costs of the event from national, regional and international donors and organisations. With the constant support of IHRA and the Conference Consortium, the role of the host organisation would also be to assist in local communication and promotion, engage with discussions and decisions concerning the conference programme and themes (forming an integral part of the Executive Programme Committee), identify potential venues and sponsors for the conference, and help to engage with local and national politicians and other key players. The annual IHRA conferences also involve numerous satellite meetings and social events which seek to include elements of local culture to ensure that those attending gain at least some knowledge of the country they are visiting. The scale of the latter activity is up to the local host and dependent on available resources.
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If you are interested in hosting the 2011 event, we would like to hear from you by April 2nd 2009.
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At this stage, we just require an initial expression of interest (signed by the Chief Executive Office of the host organisation), which should be no longer than two pages and should include the following:
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- The name and address of the organisation (and a lead contact person)
- A brief description of the host organisation (including their legal status, structure and financial resources)
- Initial information about potential conference venues, the availability of accommodation and travel into the country from overseas (taking into account that the conference regularly attracts over 1,200 delegates from around 90 countries)
- Information on the potential national and international support for the conference
- An outline of the key benefits and outcomes from holding the conference in your country and region – including the potential benefit for harm reduction in the country
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Further details may then be requested by IHRA and the Conference Consortium at a later stage of decision making. For more information – including a more detailed host organisation specification if required – or to express an interest, please contact Paddy Costall from the Conference Consortium, or Gerry Stimson or Jamie Bridge from IHRA.
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18th February 2009
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IHRA Honorary President Awarded Professorship at LJMU
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 The IHRA Honorary President – Patrick O’Hare – has been awarded the title of ‘Visiting Professor in Drug Use and Addiction’ at Liverpool John Moores University in recognition of over twenty years of work as a pioneer of harm reduction. Professor O’Hare became the Director of the Mersey Drug Training and Information Centre (now known as HIT) in Liverpool, England in the late-1980s, which had some of the first harm reduction services in the UK – including one of the first needle exchange schemes. In 1990, and in response to widespread interest and intrigue created by his work, he organised the ‘1st International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm’ in Liverpool in 1990. This event was then repeated the following year in Barcelona (another pioneering European city in terms of harm reduction), and has since gone from strength to strength. In April 2009, the 20th conference in this series – Harm Reduction 2009 – will take place in Bangkok, Thailand. In April 2010, the conference will return to Liverpool and the UK after two decades of events in thirteen countries and five continents.
Professor O’Hare was the Executive Director of IHRA from its creation in 1996 until he stepped down in 2004. He also founded the International Journal of Drug Policy – IHRA’s official journal – and was the Editor from 1990 to 2000. In 2000, he was awarded with IHRA’s International Rolleston Award and he is now the Honorary President of IHRA as well as the Chairman of HIT.
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17th February 2009
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IHRA Launches Two Valuable International Advocacy Tools
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In the build-up to the High Level Segment of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna in March 2009 – at which a political declaration will be agreed which will influence the next ten years of international drug policy – IHRA has launched two advocacy tools to inform government delegations and civil society about the widespread, global appeal of – and support for – the harm reduction approach.
Firstly, IHRA – in co-operation with Human Rights Watch – has launched a report entitled International Support for Harm Reduction: An Overview of Multi-Lateral Endorsement of Harm Reduction Policy and Practice, which is a ‘Book of Authorities’ to show the extent of the support for harm reduction from international agencies, bodies and experts in the HIV, public health, human rights and drug policy fields. This document aims to provide reference material on expert opinion and specific UN ‘agreed language’ on harm reduction, and demonstrates that most of the relevant UN organisation explicitly support core harm reduction interventions.
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The second resource is entitled Harm Reduction Policy and Practice Worldwide: An overview of national support for harm reduction in policy and practice. It has been produced by IHRA and harm reduction networks around the world in order to list the countries and territories which currently support harm reduction in their national health or drug policies, as well as those that employ key harm reduction interventions such as needle and syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy. This table shows at a glance the extent to which harm reduction is a global approach.
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IHRA hope that, with these two tools, harm reduction advocates and supporters around the world can successfully brief and lobby their relevant government delegations to CND in order to ensure that harm reduction is appropriately represented in the political declaration.
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17th February 2009
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Harm Reduction Networks Write to INCB
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In February 2009, IHRA – in collaboration with harm reduction networks from around the world – sent a letter to Professor Hamid Ghodse, the President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The letter was in response to a presentation made by a representative of the INCB Secretariat at an informal working group of Member State representatives negotiating the language of new UN political declaration on drugs – negotiations that have been slowed down over the inclusion of harm reduction within the agreed text.
IHRA was informed by some of the government delegates at this meeting that the INCB intervened to question the legitimacy of harm reduction interventions in general, and INCB’s support for harm reduction specifically. In the letter to Professor Ghodse, IHRA and the harm reduction networks highlight that such an intervention contradicts the INCB’s previous statements in support of harm reduction interventions.
Noting the “increasing scrutiny and criticism in recent years by both State Parties and civil society for [INCB’s] failure to embrace harm reduction and HIV prevention within its work, and for its lack of transparent and accountable working methods”, the letter urges Professor Ghodse to clearly restate the INCB's position on harm reduction. It states that that “There is an urgent need… to make a public statement reaffirming [INCB’s] support for harm reduction as a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to addressing drug related harm; an approach broadly supported by both the international community, the United Nations and indeed many of the INCB’s own documents. Anything less may only further undermine the INCB’s credibility as an informed and impartial body, and bring the Board and its work into disrepute”.
The letter was sent in advance of Professor Ghodse's meeting on February 6th 2009 with the informal working group to specifically address the issue of harm reduction. It was signed by IHRA, the Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN), Auto-Support des Usagers et anciens usagers de Drogues (ASUD, France), the Canadian Harm Reduction Network (CHRN), the Caribbean Harm Reduction Coalition (CHRC), Colectivo por una Política Integral Hacia las Drogas (CUPIHD, Mexico), the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), the Harm Reduction Coalition (USA), Intercambios (Argentina), the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), the International Nursing Harm Reduction Network (INHRN), the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction network (MENAHRA), Recovering Nepal, the sub-Saharan Africa Harm Reduction Network (SAHRN), the Women’s International Harm Reduction Network, and Youth RISE.
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12th February 2009
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New UNAIDS Director Speaks Out For Harm Reduction
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 At an international conference for harm reduction donors in the Netherlands, Michel Sidibé spoke of the “overwhelming evidence that harm reduction initiatives work” and stressed that “all the elements of harm reduction must reach all injecting drug users”. It was a powerful speech from the newly-appointed UNAIDS Executive Director in his first major address since his appointment in late 2008.
In the speech, Michel Sidibé also praised the Netherlands for their excellent track record on harm reduction and the fact that, in 2006, there were estimated to be less than six new HIV infections in the country related to injecting drug use! He also mentioned the speech from Paul Hunt (the then UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health) at Harm Reduction 2008: IHRA’s 19th International Conference in Barcelona – in which the human rights abuses of people who use drugs were discussed – and told delegates that “we must clearly and unequivocally break the conspiracy of silence – clearly the evidence shoes harm reduction works”. The speech even went on to stress that “We must stop criminalisation of drug users”.
The Donor Conference on Harm Reduction took place in Amsterdam in January 2009 and was hosted by the Dutch Government. It was attended by a number of harm reduction networks – including IHRA (who were represented on the Conference Reference Group) – and was hailed by Michel Sidibé as “a revolution which brings altogether users and ex-users, human rights advocates, public health practitioners and of course those who have the financial resources to make a difference”. The event aimed to explore and discuss the extent of the drug-related problems, the extent of resource commitments and resource gaps, and how to make the money from international donors work better. There were a number of follow-up actions for the delegates, all of which aim to better link harm reduction activities to the donor systems – although the conference was not intended for the announcements of specific donor pledges.
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12th February 2008
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Deadline Extended for 2009 International Rolleston Award
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The deadline for nominations for the 2009 International Rolleston Award has been extended to February 28th. The Award is presented each year to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to harm reduction at the international level. Nominations are welcome from all around the world, and neither the nominee nor the person making the nomination needs to be IHRA members. This is an excellent way to acknowledge the exceptional and inspirational work of your colleagues or peers. The Award will be presented at Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Nominations are also still open for the 2009 National Rolleston Award (for Thailand) – deadline February 28th – and the Paolo Pertica Fellowship – deadline February 15th.
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12th February 2009
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Call for Nominations for Directors of IHRA
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Nominations are currently being invited for people to serve as Directors and Trustees of the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), and to sit on the Board of Directors (also known as the Executive Committee). Directors and Trustees are responsible for the governance of the organisation and the broad strategy. They have ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of IHRA, ensuring that it is well-run and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it was set up.
IHRA is a UK company registered under Company Law in England and Wales, and also a Charity registered in England and Wales. Therefore, those elected as Directors are both Directors of the Company and Trustees of the Charity.
Meetings of the Directors – and all documentation and communication – are in English. Directors need to be available for at least one face-to-face meeting each year, together with a number of teleconferences, and to read and comment on documents for meetings. Good telephone and internet access is essential. Directors are expected to become members of at least one IHRA sub-committee and be available to provide advice and comments between meetings.
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Nominations must be made on the relevant form by March 23rd 2009 and sent to Jennifer Curcio. Nominations must include the following information:
a. The name of the person being nominated and their agreement to the nomination (please note that they must be an IHRA member at the time the nomination is received).
b. The name of the person making the nomination (who must be a paying member of IHRA at the time of making the nomination).
c. The name of a second person supporting the nomination (who must also be a paying member of IHRA).
d. A short profile of the nominee (absolutely no more than 250 words), which will be posted on the IHRA website (please note that IHRA reserves the right to edit this profile for any reason). In order to support a nomination, it is strongly recommended that this profile includes comments referring to the skills and experience that the nominee will bring to IHRA.
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Elections will be held during the IHRA Annual General Meeting – which is scheduled to take place on April 20th 2009 – during Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference – in the conference venue. The exact time and location of the meeting will be announced shortly.
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9th February 2009
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Free Meeting for UK Needle Exchange Workers
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The National Needle Exchange Forum (NNEF) is hosting a free ‘All Day Meeting’ for needle exchange workers, users, managers and advocates. The meeting will take place at Liverpool John Moores University on Monday 9th March and is free for NNEF members to attend (with membership of the NNEF also free of charge).
The meeting will feature keynote presentations from World Health Organization, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and the NNEF – each showcasing new reports and how these can be of practical use in the UK. There will also be a series of skills-building workshops on key topics for the field.
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6th February 2009
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Youth RISE Seek New International Working Group Members
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Youth RISE is an international youth-led network for reducing the risks and harms associated with substance use. It is a new and innovative project – the first and only global harm reduction network for and of young people. Youth RISE recognises that young people (aged between 15 and 24) face a wide range of specific barriers when it comes to accessing harm reduction services, advocating for harm reduction interventions, or engaging with harm reduction and drug policy organisations at a national, regional or international level. It aims to increase the engagement of young people in the policies and decisions that affect their lives, thereby both increasing the effectiveness of programmes and services, and the health outcomes of the young people involved.
In January 2009, Youth RISE issued a global call for ‘International Working Group’ (IWG) members. Every year, the network recruits an IWG comprising young leaders from around the world who work in, or advocate for, harm reduction. The function of the IWG is to guide and drive the initiatives of the organisation, and IWG members are supported in order to represent Youth RISE at local, national and international level fora. For example, previous IWG members have participated at the IHRA conferences in Poland (2007) and Spain (2008), the International AIDS Conferences in Toronto (2006) and Mexico City (2008), and the Global Methamphetamine Conference in Prague (2008).
For 2009, Youth RISE is looking to develop regional networks of young people through the IWG, and is therefore looking for young and motivated individuals who want to contribute to the global youth harm reduction movement. Application forms must be returned to info@youthrise.org by Monday 16th February 2009.
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In addition to the IWG, Youth RISE are also continuously looking for more members of the network in order to further strengthen the organisation. If you would like to be a part of a global movement, feel that young people are disproportionately affected by current drug policies, and/or think that young people are rarely included in health and harm reduction programming, please visit www.youthrise.org for more information. Youth RISE members are a vibrant group of young people from all around the world – some of whom have had personal experiences with substance use, some of whom have been affected by drugs policies, and some of whom are activists interested in creating change for their peers. Members are encouraged to participate as much as possible, and have been at the forefront of discussions on harm reduction and the inclusion of young people into programming and policies. All Youth RISE members have access to an online forum and list-serv providing up-to-date information on youth-related research, articles, events, projects and initiatives.
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3rd February 2009
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Crucial Times for US (and UN) Drug Policy: Comments from the Harm Reduction Coalition
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The article below was written by Allan Clear, the Executive Director of the Harm Reduction Coalition in the USA. It was posted in January 2009 on the AlterNet website to explain the importance of the coming weeks in terms of President Barack Obama’s leadership on drug policy, and the influence that the USA continues to have on international drug policies through the United Nations. This article was published the day before three members of the US Congress formally wrote to Susan Rice (the new US Ambassador to the United Nations) to call her attention to this issue, and requesting that new instructions be sent to the US Delegation at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. This issue has also recently been reported on by the Reuters News Agency, which claimed that “UN-sponsored negotiations on a new global drugs strategy are close to breaking down, with profound divisions between Europe and the United States on key policy issues”.
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Obama's Choice: Sane U.N. Drug Policy or the Same Old Failed War-on-Drugs Routine?
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Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States on January 20th. As an advocate for sound, sane drug policy and HIV prevention, I hope that his inauguration will mark a change to an administration that chooses science over dogma. The 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting takes place in Vienna, Austria, six weeks from now (March 12th – 13th). This meeting of United Nations Member States will review the results of the 1998 UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs that set the framework for the last decade's international drug policy. They will then release a political declaration that will set the framework for the next decade – and, by implication, the course for the global response to the HIV epidemic as it affects drug users.
It is imperative that the new Obama administration act quickly to ensure that the US delegation to this upcoming review reflect Obama's publicly stated position – on the official White House website that he "supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users". Otherwise, our new President will miss a vital early opportunity to lead us back into an era of evidence-based policy.
The current US delegation is primarily made up of State Department bureaucrats soldiering in the war on drugs. They promote policies that have had dramatic negative consequences (intended and unintended) on the lives of drug users, their families and their communities – but very little impact on reducing drug supply, consumption or cultivation. By making drug use as dangerous as possible, the United States has facilitated the spread of HIV and viral hepatitis, has allowed death from overdose to remain unchecked, and has created a prison system unlike anything since the Soviet gulags. At the same time, US commitments to providing effective drug treatment on demand are virtually non-existent. Moreover, in critical negotiations in international settings, ‘Team USA’ is rabidly hostile toward harm reduction and syringe exchange at a time when Australia, Canada, Iran and most European Union countries embrace them as important drug policy tools.
The UN review represents an opportunity for the Obama administration not only to lose these Bush-era ideologues, but also to join with other nations to create a genuinely balanced and useful blueprint for international drug policy. The USA should follow the example of other UN Member States (including some countries in the Caribbean as well as the UK and the Netherlands) and expand the US contingent to include members of civil society – people with a distinct viewpoint who can engage in the proceedings and represent the views of drug users.
After all, countries around the world, including the United States, have long understood the importance of including people living with HIV/AIDS at UN meetings. Yet, when it comes to making UN drug policy, the current US framework renders the most affected community – individuals who use drugs – silent. It will be easier to design effective solutions with input from all affected parties.
In July 2008, over 300 representatives from civil society came together under the auspices of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to provide input into the UN review at a meeting called ‘Beyond 2008’. The resulting declaration was designed to partially mirror that being produced by the formal government review process. This consensus-based document, while imperfect, directs governments to address global drug problems in a proportional fashion and redress the imbalance caused by focusing on the supply side of drug policy. Try getting consensus in a group that includes the Drug Free America Foundation, National Narcotics Officers' Associations' Coalition, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and the American Civil Liberties Union! And that was just part of the US contingent!
The only government that was arrogant enough to meddle in the formative process was (surprise) the United States. But despite all that preparation – and three days of meetings – the Beyond 2008 Declaration is destined to be sidelined at the UN review meeting in March 2009, as there is no clear indication from the Commission on Narcotic Drugs that the views of civil society will be included. Who benefits from keeping the voice of civil society out of the UN review process? The United States and Russia, primarily, as they both maintain positions that civil society opposes – the United States wants to keep syringe exchange and harm reduction off of the agenda, the Russians want to continue to demonise methadone.
In a letter co-sponsored with our allies at Physicians for Human Rights (and co-signed by more than 60 public health and human rights organisations), the Harm Reduction Coalition has asked the Obama administration to immediately appoint a more progressive US delegation to the UN review process – one that reflects the President's stance on syringe exchange and puts civil society at the table where it belongs. The time has come to return to drug policy based on best medical practices, to recognise the human rights of drug users, and to produce a political declaration that will shift the focus of international drug policy towards a public-health based approach that will aid rather than hurt drug users.
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