New report: Regional Conference 2018 at Thessaloniki
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
“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.
Regional Conference at Thessaloniki, 8 – 9 June, 2018
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.
Open dialogue meeting in Cyprus.
On Wednesday, May 30th, “Diogenis Drug Policy Dialogue” organized an open dialogue meeting in Nicosia with the topic “Drug policy and harm reduction in the context of the economic crisis”.
Representatives of the Cyprus National Addictions Authority, Public Mental Health Services of Cyprus and 4 Civil Society Organizations (KENTHEA, Cyprus Institute of Psychotherapy, Direct Access and Harm Reduction Program “Stohos”, Solidarity Movement for AIDS) were present at the meeting.
The aim of the meeting was to provide updated information of the current state of drug policy and harm reduction in Cyprus through the experience of all stakeholders, and also to identify possible proposals to address current barriers and challenges.
The meeting was implemented in the framework of the “New Approaches to Harm Reduction Policies and Practices” (NAHRPP) program, in which “Diogenis” participates as a partner and is funded by the EU with co-funding from the Open Society Founties.
A related report of the meeting will be published shortly.
Drug Policy co-operation between Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and national authorities in South East Europe
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.
