Organised by the Alliance for Public Health with the support of Ukraine, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, the Ukrainian Network of People who Use Drugs and the Precursor Foundation for Social Policy Tuesday 15th March  8am-8.50am Ganna Dovbakh, Eurasian Harm Reduction Association; Anna Shemet, Ministry of Health, Ukraine; Anton Basenko, European AIDS Treatment Group; Sergii Filippovych, #Sos 2.0, Alliance for Public Health; Magdalena Bartnik, Prekursor Foundation Ganna Dovbakh (Eurasian Harm Reduction Association): Thank you very much for joining us in this early mo ..read more

Organized by the UNODC Philippines Country Office   Lee Yarcia, Legal Expert, UNODC Philippines: Thank you all for joining us today. My name is Lee Yarcia and I’ll be your moderator. On October 7th 2020, the Human Rights Council adopted Resolution No. 45/33, providing for technical cooperation and capacity building for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines, which created the UN Joint Programme for Human Rights in the Philippines or the UNJP. This is an innovative model with the Philippine government, together with civil society and the international community who ..read more

Indigenous-led harm reduction interventions that align with indigenous knowledge and practice. Sarah Helm: Welcome. We are starting with a traditional He karakia poto, an indigenous non-religious prayer. (Prayer). As an indigenous person, it is an honor being here today representing my country, my foundation and hosting an event on this topic. We are grateful for our supporters – it is a long list: Canada, Australia, Peru, NZ, OHCHR, and many others. It is a shame we are here in this small room at the end of the week, but we are here, Indigenous people, with a common experience regarding drugs ..read more

Ruby: Youth RISE works with young people who use drugs around the world who are working in drug policy reform and ham reduction. We use the principle of Full Spectrum Harm Reduction and work to reduce stigma and discrimination. Created a research paper last year with a group of 7 people working in the field around the world. The paper calls attention to specific needs of young sex workers. Issues that put their physical and mental health at risk and sets out recommendations. There are some limits to the paper – it is a narrative research paper, collecting and analyzing accounts of people’s exp ..read more

Suzanne Sharkey: Its 2023 and last month a male friend said to me women in western society have equality they are 50% of the population after all  – Oh how I laughed and how he regretted the question – but it’s not his fault that is what he has seen and he has learnt – he is (or was ) unaware of the depths of how still in 2023 we live in a gender biased society. I too was unaware of the enormity of the gender bias until I began my journey in recovery and activism in drug policy reform. Globally 75% of unpaid work is done by women. We are the backbone of society that holds families and com ..read more

Antonio Lomba Moderator: Good afternoon and welcome, without delay I will welcome Ambassador Bortezi of Italy. Ambassador Alessandro Cortese: I am delighted to open this side-event, co-sponsored by our government. I thank the organizers for the invite, in particular long standing friends San Patrignano. We take reintegration and rehabilitation of people who use drugs very seriously. We have hundreds of therapeutic communities in Italy ensuring free access to treatment. There are large residential centres giving a new chance to more than 26,000 people, with a success rate over 73%. They are not ..read more

(…) Neil Woods: In the UK 50,000 children are dealing heroin, per the UK government website. This information is now removed now from the website due likely to embarrassment. I first bought heroin from a child in 2001 as undercover cop. Now it is the norm, before it was shocking – you are now more likely to buy heroin from a child than an adult. Why have we gotten to a situation where children are frontline heroin dealers? That is my fault as a former undercover police officer. Organized crime adapts and drug prohibition gave birth to this. Drug policing sharpens the sword of organized crime ..read more

Gloria Lai: Welcome to the side event: Ending Gender Based Violence Against Women and Gender Nonconforming People who Use Drugs. To start, Elizabeth Wilde, First Assistant Secretary, Development Policy Division, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Australia, will be making opening remarks via video Elizabeth Wilde: Australia is pleased to give support to this event. We are committed to protecting and promoting human rights without discrimination as a priority. We have worked to develop policies limiting discrimination, one such area of particular focus today is ending sexual and gender ..read more

Organized by INPUD Limited with the support of the UNODC HIV/AIDS Section, the European Network of People who Use Drugs, the African Network of People who Use Drugs, the South African Network of People who Use Drugs, the Eurasian Network of People who Use Drugs, the Middle East and North Africa Network of People who Use Drugs, the Network of Asian People who Use Drugs, the Drug Harm Reduction Advocacy Network Nigeria, Women in Response to HIV/AIDS and Drug Addiction, and Youth RISE Judy Chang: Executive Director, International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD): Welcome to all those here ..read more

Organized by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with the support of Colombia, Italy, the UNODC Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, the Recovery Foundation, the Police, Treatment, and Community Collaborative, the Villa Maraini Foundation, the Knowmad Institute, Drug Policy Network South-East Europe, the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association and the Brazilian Harm Reduction and Human Rights Network. A video recording of this event can be found on the Rome Consensus website: romeconsensus.org Dr. Lasha Goguadze: International Feder ..read more