Together for a Harm Reduction oriented policy
On 27 May 2021, the 4th Expert Meeting on Harm Reduction in Drug Policy took place. Due to the pandemic, it was held virtually for the first time and in a streamlined version as an Expert Briefing. More than 70 participants from 15 countries and 5 continents took part in the event. Another expert meeting is planned for the end of 2021.
Government representatives from Albania, Norway, Switzerland, Canada, Kenya, and Colombia, among others, used the forum to exchange ideas with actors from civil society and international organisations - and to advance the discourse on a health-oriented drug policy.
The participants analysed the development of Harm Reduction worldwide, discussed the latest findings from the Global State of Harm Reduction report, and examined the harsh effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the situation and the support offered to drug users in many countries. Two reports from the everyday life in harm reduction services in India and Kenya were particularly vivid.
The forum was first launched by the GPDPD in 2016 and co-organised by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the Office of the Narcotics Control Board of Thailand (ONCB), and Harm Reduction International (HRI). This conference series has become an important international forum for health-oriented drug policies. In their national drug strategies, as well as in the context of the European Union and the United Nations, more and more countries are advocating for a health-oriented drug policy.
The GPDPD works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and under the political patronage of the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Drug and Addiction Policy.
