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29th January 2010
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Academic Programmes at the International Harm Reduction Academy
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IHRA is pleased to announce the launch of the International Harm Reduction Academy at Harm Reduction 2010.
This academic programme is being introduced as a partnership between IHRA, the Conference Consortium and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). The Academy links the conference with additional teaching and mentoring. Students successfully completing the course are awarded a Liverpool John Moores University Certificate in Professional Development.
The Continuing Professional Development programme is designed to enable individuals to develop their professional abilities while obtaining new skills.
This programme will also be offered at future harm reduction conferences to provide a range internationally recognised and accredited Certificates in Professional Development at different levels. This will give students a formal and academically recognised route into either further training or higher academic qualifications.
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 Click here for more information about the academy including timetables, admission criteria and coursework [PDF:224KB]
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27 January 2010
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Call for Expressions of Interest to Host Future IHRA International Conferences
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IHRA invites expressions of interest for future IHRA international conferences. The conferences are produced in partnership with the Conference Consortium and ordinarily take place in April/May each year. We are seeking partners to host the conference and assist with the development and production of the events. We have venues for 2010, in Liverpool, UK, and 2011, in Beirut, Lebanon, but would like to fix venues and dates for 2012, 2013 and beyond.
Benefits to the host organisations include the opportunity to promote harm reduction nationally and regionally.
Local partners are usually organisations engaged in harm reduction work in the city, country, or region where the conference is taking place, who assist with promoting the conference, securing political and financial support, providing harm reduction and other medical services to delegates, taking part in the design and construction of the programme and acting as the focal point for the conference locally.
If you wish to express an interest in hosting the 2012 conference the deadline for submission of a bid is Wednesday 31st March 2010. If you wish to be considered for years beyond this it would be helpful to have at least basic information – bid team, potential venue(s) hotels, possible local/national/regional support, etc) – without the more detailed costs by that date, as this will at least give us an idea of levels of interest.
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Click here to view information for prospective hosts [PDF:900KB]
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If you have any questions about the information or the process, please contact Paddy Costall, Managing Director of the Conference Consortium.
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22nd January 2010
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Gender Project in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
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The Eurasian Harm Reduction Network and Harm Reduction Knowledge Hub have launched a project aimed to promote gender equality in HIV-related and harm reduction services.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia are experiencing a growing prevalence of new HIV infections among women. However, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network notes that women drug users face a number of obstacles to access harm reduction and drug treatment services [PDF:808KB] in the region that are not being sufficiently dealt with at the local or national levels.
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The project is still in development but the early goals are to build capacity of the Harm Reduction Knowledge Hub, with regional stakeholders and NGOs, to offer technical assistance in the region.
A toolkit will be formulated to help gauge availability and performance on issues like HIV treatment, reproductive health, social services, community-based services and drug treatment, including opioid substitution therapy - as well as their sensitivity to gender.
The current plan envisions the Harm Reduction Knowledge Hub leading trainings on how to use the toolkit. Two countries will be selected for the project roll out.
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20th January 2010
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Canadian Safe Injection Site to Remain Open
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British Columbia’s Court of Appeal rejected the Canadian government’s attempt to shut down the first safe injecting site in North America.
The facility, called Insite, has operated since 2003 under a constitutional exemption to the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. As the exemption was due to expire, Insite successfully obtained a permanent exemption, which the Conservative government challenged.
Justice Carol Huddart wrote in her decision, “What is at issue is the provincially-authorized supervision of the injection of illegally-obtained heroin to prevent health problems associated with its self-injection. Like palliative care, it is a form of harm reduction with benefits for both the patient and the community.”
Justice Madam Justice Anne Rowles added, “I doubt that the accuracy of the assertion that the operation of Insite is controversial in a policy sense. In this province, there is no longer any serious debate about the need for Insite as a health care facility.”
Two of the three judges supported Insite’s continued exemption.
Challenges to national approaches to harm reduction are due to receive ample attention at Harm Reduction 2010: IHRA’s 21st International Conference. The programme currently includes the session, “'Hanging On' to Insite - The Socio-Political Context of a community fighting to keep an Injection Site”.
One of the arguments submitted by the Canadian government was that to maintain the exemption would “seriously impair Canada’s ability to meet its international treaty obligations”.
Justice Huddart interpreted the argument “to be founded on a view that Insite’s provision of services somehow approves of or promotes drug use”. She noted it was “particularly difficult to understand, given the establishment of 45 sites where a supervised injection service is provided in other countries and that some of them provided the model for Insite.”
Justice Huddart was right to reject the argument that the international drug control treaties forbid certain harm reduction programmes. As IHRA wrote in “Recalibrating the Regime: The Need for a Human Rights-Based Approach to International Drug Policy”, UNDCP’s legal experts concluded that the provision of syringe exchange, substitution treatment and safe injection facilities did not violate state obligations under the drug control treaties.
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19th January 2010
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Kenya Launches National AIDS Strategic Plan III
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Kenya released its third National AIDS Strategic Plan (KNASP III), which pledges to ease restrictions on programmes that work with drug users and other at-risk groups whose behaviour has been criminalised.
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The plan states, “Sex work, homosexuality and drug use are illegal in Kenya, and attempts to de-criminalise them have faced significant religious and cultural resistance among the population. However, based on new evidence, KNASP III will work with all most at risk groups and seek innovative ways to reduce HIV transmission. Programmes have been working with all these groups for many years, but under constraints, which KNASP III aims to alleviate systematically.”
As IHRA reported in its Global State of Harm Reduction, there are estimated to be 130,000 people who inject drugs in Kenya, amongst whom adult HIV prevalence is estimated to be 42.9%. The plan, which runs from 2009/2010 to 2012/2013, aims to reduce HIV transmission by 50%.
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Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said, “It troubles me greatly to see, on the one hand, the normalization of the AIDS response, and on the other, criminalization of HIV-related behaviour. Criminalization pushes marginalized people further into the shadows—beyond the reach of services that they need. So, instead of Universal Access, people most at risk of HIV face universal obstacles. I believe the Plan is taking the right approach to those most at risk … [T]his Plan has evidence-based strategies to systematically remove constraints to reducing HIV transmission among groups in conflict with the law.”
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In the sub-Saharan Africa region, very few countries include a focus on people who inject drugs within their response to HIV and AIDS. Harm reduction interventions remain limited to Mauritius (where needle and syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy programmes are in place) and South Africa (where limited numbers can access opioid substitution therapy).
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18th January 2010
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Human Rights in the Global Response to HIV
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The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome published a paper analysing figures from the National Composite Policy Index (NCPI), which revealed a glaring need for performance indicators to assess HIV-related human rights compliance.
The data from the UN General Assembly Special Session Progress Reports showed that “Almost all reporting countries (94%) note that their national HIV policies explicitly mention the promotion and protection of human rights, yet only 22% of these countries report performance indicators to assess human rights compliance.”
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The article adds that without such assessments, it is difficult to gauge whether HIV-related human rights commitments are being honoured, whether policies or programmes function well for at-risk populations and which populations are being protected.
Recognising that only 16% of countries have protective law and policies in place to shield injecting drug users from discrimination, the article states, “laws that protect populations whose behavior may be deemed to be in conflict with certain laws are highly uncommon.”
The clash of legal priorities has been documented at the international level in the 2008 report, “Recalibrating the Regime: The Need for a Human Rights-Based Approach to International Drug Policy”.
Despite identifying such gaps in assessing compliance, the paper recognises the importance that the NCPI data can play in discovering inadequacies and addressing issues that the figures uncover.
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15th January 2010
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Nominations Invited for Paolo Pertica Fellowship 2010
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Nominations are now being invited for the 2010 Paolo Pertica Fellowship along with other IHRA Awards -all of which will be presented at Harm Reduction 2010: IHRA’s 21st International Conference.
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The Paolo Pertica Fellowship was established in 2004 by the European Network of Drugs and Infections Prevention in Prisons (ENDIPP). The creation of ENDIPP stemmed from Paolo Pertica’s work with prisoners from a wide range of different nationalities incarcerated in London prisons.
The aim of the Fellowship is to encourage innovative harm reduction work or research in prison and other custodial settings by enabling the recipients to develop small projects. These projects must clearly demonstrate how they contribute to improving the conditions of those individuals in custody who either have drug use or HIV related needs. The Fellowship is for one year with up to €10,000 available. The completed project report is then presented at the next IHRA international conference.
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Criteria
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To develop and report on an innovative HR action research or demonstration project based in prison or other custodial settings. The project could involve:
• Introducing/running HR services
• Research on HR needs
• Education/training on HR.
• Advocating for introduction of HR.
• Advocating for prisoners rights – esp. re drug use.
• Developing a funding proposal for a larger HR project.
Applicants should ensure that their proposal is manageable within the timeframe (one year) and resources available.
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Who can apply
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Individuals or organisations any where in the world. (Applicants do not have to be an IHRA member)
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Deadline
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Applications are now extended to Friday 19th March 2010.
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12th January 2010
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China’s Compulsory Treatment a Human Rights Catastrophe
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Human Rights Watch released a report documenting human rights abuses related to China’s compulsory treatment for drug offenders.
The document, titled “Where Darkness Knows No Limits,” is based on research in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces. It reveals how China’s new Anti-Drug Law, which calls for the rehabilitation of illicit drug users, has led to suspected users being regularly incarcerated for up to seven years in detention centres without trial. The 37-page report exposes deplorable conditions, including a high prevalence of disease, beatings and up to 18 hours of daily forced labour.
Previously, China had required six to twelve months in these detention centres but the new law increased the minimum period to two years that must be served, according to Human Rights Watch. UNAIDS has reported that there are roughly 500,000 people in compulsory treatment in China.
Sadly this comes after China has increased a handful of progressive harm reduction measures over the last several years. More than 600 methadone clinics have opened and there are more than 1,000 needle exchange sites operating in the country.
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Human Rights Watch has noted that under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) the government is obliged to provide protection for all persons from arbitrary arrest and detention, ensure humane conditions of detention, and meet international fair trial standards. Furthermore, the people that are being held in the centre are entitled to a standard of health equivalent to what is available in the general community, “without discrimination based on their legal status,” according to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
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11th January 2010
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IHRA invites applications for two new posts
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Networking and Advocacy Officer (full-time)
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The successful candidate will work collaboratively with other staff members to maximise the visibility and impact of harm reduction advocacy activities within key multilateral fora. She or he will be responsible for a challenging and multifaceted programme of work, which will include the coordination of a new European Harm Reduction Network, as well as collaboration with other harm reduction networks and key civil society partners to develop and conduct international campaigns, from monitoring multilateral activity and identifying advocacy opportunities to writing policy briefs and representing IHRA in multilateral fora. The postholder will work as part of IHRA’s Public Health Team.
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Click here for details of the Networking and Advocacy Officer post and how to apply [PDF:78KB]
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Human Rights Analyst: Death Penalty Project (full-time)
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The successful candidate will coordinate IHRA’s campaign to restrict the application of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide by implementing an ambitious programme of legal research and analysis, policy development and international advocacy. The postholder will be responsible for: monitoring and tracking the status of the death penalty for drugs internationally, as well as multi-lateral donor projects in death penalty states ; lobbying and advocacy with donor governments and multi-lateral donors on meeting their human rights obligations vis-a-vis drug enforcement assistance in death penalty states; and designing and implementing human rights impact assessment as a core element of multi-lateral drug enforcement assistance in retentionist states. The postholder will work as part of the IHRA’s Human Rights Team.
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Click here for details of the Human Rights Analyst and how to apply [PDF:291KB]
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Deadline for applications for both posts: Friday 5th February 2009
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