Policy & Legislation SEE

Policy & Legislation SEE ➝

New report: Regional Conference 2018 at Thessaloniki

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The report of the Annual Regional Conference in South East Europe, which was organized by “Diogenis Drug Policy Dialogue”in Thessaloniki from 8-9 June 2018, is now available at our website.

The conference brought together representatives of NGOs, Policy makers and researchers from 9 countries, active in the drugs field in the region, in order to discuss drug policy developments and trends, in view of socio-political developments and the implementation of the recommendations of the UNGASS outcome Document 2016.

You can download or read the full report (English) here.

Report on meeting of NGOs and National Coordinators of SE Europe

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“Diogenis, Drug Policy Dialogue” in co-operation with the “Drug Policy Network in South East Europe” (DPNSEE) and the Office for Combating Drugs of the republic of Serbia, organised a meeting between representatives of National Authorities responsible for Drug Policy in the Countries of the South East European Region and NGOs working in the drugs field in these counties, took place in Belgrade, Serbia.

The main issues discussed at the meeting were:
a. The current situation of cooperation between National Authorities and NGOs in the field of Drugs. Positive experiences and challenges that require action in the future.
b. Mutual expectations of good cooperation between NGOs and national authorities. The possible benefit of a good relationship between NGOs and State authorities and models of NGO participation in decision making that exist in the countries of the region. Conditions that are required for a meaningful participation.
c. The developments in drug policy in the coming years and in particular the implementation of the recommendations of the UNGASS 2016 “outcome document” and the co-operation between Civil Society and national authorities. Areas of co-operation between NGOs and the competent authorities that can contribute to a more humane and effective drug policy.
d. Structures of co-operation between the states of the South East European region that can be used to promote the drug policy issue as a priority on their agenda.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss about the cooperation between authorities and NGOs at the national level, open up the possibility to exchange information and experiences of good practices and reflect on perspectives of future cooperation. This meeting was part of the activities of the action plan 2018 of the project “Strengthening NGO capacity and promoting public health and human rights oriented drug policy in South Eastern Europe”, financially supported by the European Commission and the Open Society Foundations (OSF).

You can read the full report here.

 

 

The DPNSEE Newsletter #14 has just arrived!

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The trimestral newsletter #14 of the “Drug Policy Network in SE Europe” has just arrived, with news from the activities of its member-organizations for the period April – June 2018!

You can read it or download it here. 

The #13 DPNSEE Newsletter is here!

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The 13th issue of the Drug Policy Network of South East Europe Newsletter has arrived and brings to us the news of the network and its member organizations for the trimester January – March 2018!

You can read or download it for free here.

Regional Conference at Thessaloniki, 8 – 9 June, 2018

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The Annual Regional Conference in South East Europe was organized by “Diogenis Drug Policy Dialogue” in Thessaloniki from 8-9 June 2018, at Capsis Hotel.

The conference brought together representatives of NGOs, Policy makers and researchers from 9 countries, active in the drugs field in the region, in order to discuss drug policy developments and trends, in view of socio-political developments and the implementation of the recommendations of the UNGASS outcome Document 2016.

Issues that were discussed at the conference:
1. Youth culture, summer festivals, drug use and harm reduction in South East Europe: Policy implications for the competent authorities, the organizers of the festivals and harm reduction services.
2. Refugees and migrants in the countries of South East Europe and the drugs issue. An exploration of the state of affairs, the contribution of the NGOs and the National authorities.
3. The evaluation of the Political Declaration 2009-2019 in relation to the UNGASS outcome document. The South East Europe perspective.
4. Evaluation and follow up of the Harm reduction project in SEE.
5. Current topics of importance: a. The regulation of cannabis for medical purposes, b. the current regional project, “Strengthening NGO capacity and promoting public health and human rights oriented drug policy in South East Europe”, and the way forward, c. other topics.

The conference is part of the regional project “Strengthening NGO capacity and promoting public health and human rights oriented drug policy in South East Europe”, supported financially by the European Commission and the Open Society Foundations.

The detailed report from the conference will be available on line within the next months.

Drug Policy co-operation between Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and national authorities in South East Europe

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On May 10th a meeting took place in Belgrade, Serbia between representatives of Non-Governmental organisations active in the field of drugs and National drug co-ordinators from the Countries in South East Europe. The meeting was organised by Diogenis, drug policy dialogue, in co-operation with the Drug Policy Network South East Europe (DPNSEE) and the office for combating drugs of Serbia. At the meeting participated drug policy co-ordinators and NGOs from respectively 9 and 10 countries of South East Europe. The meeting was an opportunity to exchange information and experiences of good practices and to reflect on possibilities of future cooperation on the national and regional level.

After an introduction of the participants the current situation of cooperation between National Authorities and NGOs was discussed. There is a variety of co-operations structures in the countries of South East Europe. Some countries have a formal structure of co-operation with regular consultation, participation in decision making bodies concerning drug policy and financial support of activities of NGOs. Other countries are on the way to create co-operation structures and are discussing about embedding rules for cooperation between NGOs and competent authorities in national law. All countries recognise the importance of the work that NGOs do, but much more needs to be done for full cooperation. An extensive discussion took place on quality standards, requirements that NGOs must fulfil for the implementation of government-funded projects and training opportunities for capacity building. A session has been devoted to drug policy issues related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the recommendations of the UNGASS outcome document 2016. It is agreed to repeat such meetings at the regional level. A report of the meeting will be published soon.

Conference in Cyprus, 19 – 21 October.

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With the participation of representatives of Civil Society, National Agencies and experts from 12 European countries, the conference titled “Services for the Treatment and Harm Reduction in Times of Economic Crisis: Developments and Challenges” was successfully held in 19-21 October, in Nicosia, funded by the European Commission and the Open Society Foundations and organized by “Diogenis – Drug Policy Dialogue”.

During the conference, participants had the opportunity to exchange information, good practices and policies on drugs in their countries as well as Europe-wide, amid economic difficulties and social challenges in Europe.
The conference was held in the context of the EU-funded project “New Approaches to Harm Reduction Policies and Practices”, involving the Transnational Institute (TNI) – Netherlands (Leader Organization), “Diogenis – Drug Policy Dialogue” (partner), “Forum Droghe” (FD) – Italy (partner) and “International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service” (ICEERS) -Spain (partner).
The results of the conference will be announced shortly on the Diogenis’ website www.diogenis.info.

Photo credits: Evita Paraskevopoulou

 

 

 

 

 

Report: Regional Conference, 8-10 June 2017 Thessaloniki.

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The Annual Regional Drug Policy Conference in South East Europe 2017 was organised in Thessaloniki from 8-10 June 2017, under the title:

“Drug policy challenges and implementation in South East Europe”

The Regional Conference aimed to: bring together NGOs, policy makers and researchers active in the field of drugs across the region of South East Europe, in order to discuss drug policy developments and trends, exchange experiences and best practices in the region, Europe and the United Nations. Invited were members of NGOs active in the field, members of the Drug Policy Network in South East Europe (DPNSEE), policy makers and academics. This regional conference was part of the regional project “Strengthening NGO capacity and promoting public health and human rights oriented drug policy in South East Europe”, supported financially by the European Commission and the Open Society Foundations.

You can read or download the report (eng) here.

A call for Human Rights’ oriented drug policy: what would YOU change?

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On the occasion of International Human Right’s Day, celebrated each year on December 10th, Civil Society organizations from South East Europe, make a call for change towards human rights’ oriented drug policy.
Worldwide, we have seen large-scale abuses of international human rights in the name of the drug control system. During the last decades, repressive policies – particularly focused in law enforcement – have been the main strategy of addressing the drug phenomenon. This approach is clearly in total contradiction with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. Among others, the right to life, the right to health, the right to be free from discrimination, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to due process and a fair trial are violated on a regular basis against a particularly vulnerable and marginalized population, that of people who use drugs. Read more

Presentation of new edition by “Diogenis” and “Sakkoulas” Publications

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The NGO “Diogenes – Drug Policy Dialogue” organized the presentation of the new edition “Sentencing of Drug Offenders: Legislators’ Policy and the Practice of the Courts in South Eastern Europe”. The book is edited by Mr. Thanasis Apostolou (Director of ‘Diogenes’) and published by “Sakkoulas Publications”. The event was held on September 27th, 2016 in the Europe Direct hall of the Municipality of Athens.

In the discussion panel chaired by Mrs M. Malliori, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Athens, the participants were:
– Nancy Antonopoulos, PhD Criminology AUTH
(Author of the research for Greece, published in the book)
– Evangelos Zacharias, Appeals Prosecutor, Chief Prosecutor of Piraeus
– Evangelos Kafetzopoulos, neurologist – psychiatrist, President OKANA
– Chris Vettas, director of KETHEA “PROMETHEUS”, Northern Greece

The event was supported by the Europe Direct office of the Municipality of Athens.

You can see the full program here. (Greek)