Conference Organisers

Harm Reduction 2011 is organised by the International Harm Reduction Association and the Conference Consortium in conjunction with Soins Infirmiers et Développement Communautaire (SIDC) and Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA).

The International Harm Reduction Association’s mission is to promote harm reduction on a global basis through an integrated programme of research, advocacy, information sharing, networking and collaboration.

Our work aims to improve public health, protect the human rights of people who use drugs and reduce the individual and community harms from psychoactive drug use. We work with local, national, regional and international civil society organisations, as well and with UN and other multilateral agencies, on a wide range of activities, projects and programmes including:

• Public Health Research, Policy Analysis and Advocacy
• Human Rights Research and Advocacy
• Regional and International Harm Reduction Networking, including support for new and emerging Networks
• Conferences and Events, including the annual International Harm Reduction Conference
• Media Work, Publishing and Communications

The Conference Consortium was established in 2005 by non-governmental organisations, trades unions, professional associations and national bodies in the UK. This unique collaboration, operating as a social enterprise, is dedicated to organising conferences and other events promoting the adoption of the most appropriate, relevant and effective policies and practice, in response to the problems presented by drug and alcohol use. It provides a forum for discussion and debate on policy relating to the overlapping fields of drugs, alcohol and criminal justice, and dissemination of information on research and good practice. The Conference Consortium is responsible for all organisational aspects of the conference and has previously delivered the harm reduction conferences in Warsaw, Barcelona, Bangkok and Liverpool

Soins Infirmiers et Développement Communautaire (SIDC) is a leading NGO in Lebanon. Its mission is to meet the health needs of youth, the elderly and the most vulnerable individuals and groups through community empowerment. This mission stems from the belief that all individuals are equal and that every individual has the right to health and a healthy life, as well as the belief in the capabilities of communities to collectively and actively manage their problems if empowered for this responsibility. In 1987, SID (Service Infirmier à Domicile) was founded in Sin El Fil, as a provider of primary health care through home based nursing. Under the inadequate conditions of the 1990 civil war, SID elaborated several health programs, which were expanded and modified to meet the needs of the various communities. In 1992 SID became SIDC and its programmes expanded to community development involving health behaviours and disease prevention. SIDC is a Sub-Regional Knowledge Hub and the network secretariat for the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA).

Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA) aims to strengthen the role of civil society organizations in harm reduction in the Middle East and North Africa. MENAHRA comprises three Sub-Regional Knowledge Hubs in Iran, Lebanon and Morocco, a network secretariat based in Lebanon, and model harm reduction projects. MENAHRA supports and funds partner civil society organisations in Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Tunisia. MENAHRA’s knowledge hubs have reached civil society representatives, media workers, religious leaders and policy makers through seminars, site visits and training workshops on issues such as harm reduction key interventions, capacity building and advocacy. The network regularly shares harm reduction news, works with media to increase awareness of harm reduction and participates in international events in order to promote harm reduction in the region.