Ukraine Snapshots Volume 2

The second volume of our Ukraine Snapshots publications, ‘Services for Ukrainian Refugees in De Regenboog Groep’, is now available.

 

Almost one year ago, we became witnesses of yet another war, this time within the European territory. The Dutch state and the municipality of Amsterdam, including De Regenboeg Groep, took immediate measures to provide safe spaces for the refugees fleeing Ukraine. As part of the ‘Ukraine Snapshots’ series of the Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network, this article aims to provide an overall picture of the services organised and offered by De Regenboog Groep to the Ukrainian refugees.

 

To get an insight into the situation on the front line, we interviewed the general coordinator of the shelters,Aukje Polder, Drop-In and Shelter Programme Coordinator at De Regenboog Groep and the on-site manager of the Botel shelter, Jarmo Berkhout; Daphne van Zetten , Aujke’s substitute, revised and updated the information close to the publication date. They shared valuable information and discussed their experience regarding how the system works and how the situation has unfolded so far.

 

Read the full publication here.

 

 

One Year of War in Ukraine

One year ago, Russia launched Europe’s biggest war since WWII. The toll of human suffering has been staggering – thousands have been killed, and more than 8 million Ukrainians fled abroad. Its social, econonomic and health effects have been felt in nearly everyone’s life.

However, conflicts don’t impact all people equally. War and violence exacerbate structural inequalities and discrimination. This last year, people who use drugs and other marginalised communities in Europe have disproportionately experienced its negative consequences. Equally, harm reduction organisations have been put to the test.

On this day, we remember and mourn all the victims of Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine and pay tribute to Ukrainian’s resilience and courage. Equally, we join governments, institutions, organisations and individuals across the world in demanding the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russia from the territory of Ukraine.

Until this moment comes, we will continue to #StandWithUkraine and work with our members, partners and friends to ensure that the health, safety and livelihood needs of people who use drugs and other underserved communities are met.

Testing and care of viral hepatitis among migrant populations in the EU/EEA

On Tuesday, the ECDC hosted their webinar on testing and care of viral hepatitis among migrant populations in the EU/EEA; aiming to strengthen EU/EAA countries’ capacities and capabilities to prevent and control viral hepatitis among migrant populations.

Chronic HCV/HBV in European migrant populations

Milosz Parczewski [European AIDS Clinical Society – EACS]  presented data on chronic HCV/HBV in European migrant populations. Milosz shared multiple figures on the data such as the one below.

Milosz emphasised the urgent need to collect current data from this target group, including updated vaccination data from the refugee population. He also highlighted the need for more outreach testing programmes as these numbers are still too small.

Novel model of care for testing HBV

Next, Camila Picchio presented a novel model of care for simplified testing of HBV in African communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. The model consists of two field visits; firstly, information regarding hepatitis b is provided by a community coordinator before the screening takes place with a blood extraction. During the second visit, the participants are given their blood results, offered their HBV vaccine, and those with past-resolved infection or prior vaccination are offered post-test counselling.

“This  community-based HBV screening program provides an effective model for identifying and providing care to migrant populations at high risk of HBV infection, who may otherwise not engage in care”

Take away messages from the model were;

Testing and management of viral hepatitis for refugees from Ukraine

The final presentation was by Mojca Matičič, MD, PhD. A pre-war data set of the situation in Ukraine was presented, with data showing Ukraine was second largest HIV epidemic in the WHO EU Region, second highest prevalence of HIV/TB coinfection, and the fourth highest TB incidence rate among WHO EU region countries. HBV and HCV infections were identified as key public health issues in Ukraine.

“By October 11 2022, 4,350,995 refugees from Ukraine registered for temporary protection (or similar national protection schemes in Europe)”

Mojca reinforced the need for community healthcare providers to ensure access to services and continuation of vaccination programmes for Ukranian refugees, and highlighted the harm reduction services across Europe for refugees from the Ukraine which are described in the C-EHRN Ukranian snapshot.

Reflections on the Constellations Festival

Correlation’s research officer Iga Jeziorska attended CONSTELLATIONS: An Online Festival on Drugs and Harm Reduction, offering insights and reflections from the 2 days of films, presentations, workshops and discussions.

During the festival, an update on the situation in Ukraine and activities of Polish harm reduction organisations supporting the refugee PWUD were discussed. The situation is difficult, but the harm reduction community works tirelessly. Despite the terrible context of the war, people remain motivated and services are working well. In Poland, unprecedented levels of unity and solidarity could be seen not only in harm reduction, but also in the society at large, when Polish citizens got highly mobilised to help Ukrainian neighbours fleeing from war.

Eurasian Harm Reduction Association [EHRA] has been operating a crowdfunding campaign to support Ukrainian PWUD and activitsts with individual financial support and humanitarian aid. If you are interested and able to support the cause, the bank details for donations are the following:

Name of account holder: Eurazijos žalos mažinimo asociacija

Purpose: Charitable donation for community in Ukraine

IBAN: LT92 7180 3000 0770 0220  

Bank name: AB Šiaulių bankas

BIC/SWIFT: CBSBLT26

The festival also featured two advocacy videos on drug consumption rooms by Drugreporter and INPUD:

Metzineres: From Survival to Fighting Back about Barcelona’s safe haven for womxn who use drugs and experience(d) violence. Metzineres offers a “full-spectrum” harm reduction approach, encouraging the dreams and passions of the womxn using their services to create a feeling of encouragement where the womxn can safely share stories and survival methods.

The second video was The Wall of Shame about the history of crack use in Paris and the need for opening a safe consumption site for people using it. The documentary explores the barriers in place preventing the development of a safe consumption space, and addresses the stigma and racial discrimination surrounding crack consumption in Paris.

The videos were followed by a very interesting discussion on the needs of PWUD, racial and sexual discrimination, and (in)effective policies.

The videos were followed by a session on arbitrary detention of marginalised groups, involving Dr Miriam Estrada-Castillo from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, who explained the methods of work of the group and encouraged to submit the appeals to the Working Group if experienced arbitrary detention. Interestingly, the Working Group works on the basis of the international human rights conventions (also, civil and social rights conventions, and Convention against Torture), with national codes being of little interest. Any person who experienced arbitrary detention (or their family or friends) can submit an appeal to the Working Group, regardless of the duration of the detention, the time that passed since a person was detained, or whether they are already free. If the Working Group confirms the arbitrariness of the detention, a person is entitled to financial compensation from the government. The Working Group’s decisions are legally binding. You can read more about the mandate and operation of the Group here.

Finally, there was a roundtable with Patriic Gayle and Leila Reid about chemsex harm reduction in Greater London, with storytelling on how the grassroots service Gay Men’s Health Collective has finally acquired funding, discussion on the specificity of work with people engaging in chemsex, and presentation of a harm reduction package, which will be distributed in the city in 20.000 copies very soon.

Systematic Review of Qualitative Research on Substance Use Among Refugees

A new study evaluating qualitative research on substance use and substance use disorders among refugees in terms of practitioners’ and substance users’ attitudes, beliefs and experiences.

The study looks at how the available qualitative research contributes to understanding the development, explanation, consequences and treatment of substance use among refugees. As well as this, the study also hopes to inform the best practises in qualitative interviewing techniques when working with refugees; as this group are vulnerable to stress triggers, and could potentially find the process traumatising.

Refugees are at high risk for substance use and substance use disorders and often face high barriers to treatment and interventions in host countries.

The study looks at a range of different populations, listed below, to try and gain a wide range of experiences and insight from around the world.

This figure from the paper illustrates the number of qualitative studies conducted among different refugee communities between 2008 and 2021.

Harm Reduction International Abstract Submission Open

Abstract submission for HR23 is now open.

 

The theme for HR23 is Strength in Solidarity, with a particular interest in how harm reduction intersects with other social justice movements.

 

A list of starting point ideas includes;

  1. Indigenous, rural and underserved communities and harm reduction (particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ priorities for harm reduction)
  2. Prisons/services/compulsory drug treatment/decarceration/abolition
  3. Harm reduction and covid-19 (community-led responses, access to vaccines, enforcement & human rights violations)
  4. Sex work and harm reduction
  5. Racism/white supremacy/decolonising drug policy
  6. Financing/funding harm reduction (sustainability and resilience in challenging environments/budget advocacy for harm reduction)
  7. Death penalty for drug offences
  8. Harm reduction as an ethic
  9. Children, young people and adolescents
  10. LGBTQI+ communities and harm reduction
  11. Traditional and medicinal use of drugs
  12. Current peer- and drug user-led services, programmes and organisations – advantages, challenges and history
  13. Progress in harm reduction (DCRs/overdose prevention/harm reduction for stimulant users/integrated services/intersections with mental health)
  14. Safer nightlife/party drug harm reduction/drug checking
  15. Feminism and harm reduction
  16. Harm reduction activism (successes/new strategies/social media tools)
  17. Drugs and pleasure: beyond harm reduction
  18. Harm reduction in crises (war/migration/humanitarian disasters/climate crisis/pandemics)
  19. Civil disobedience and harm reduction (illicit provision of naloxone/unsanctioned DCRs/safe supply)
  20. Tainted drug supplies/markets – their threat, and what they illustrate (E.g., fentanyl, benzo dope)

 

The call for abstracts will close at 23.59 BST on 30 September 2022.

 

More information, and how to apply here.

C-EHRN Podcast Series #3: How to support broader decriminalisation processes?

Following the 5th European Harm Reduction Conference opening session Drug Policy, Decriminalisation: The next global step for Europe?, we recorded the 2nd episode of C-EHRN Podcast Series. Our guests discussed why there are still too few countries taking the bold step of decriminalisation even though it is proven that it works? 

Why are policymakers still addicted to prohibition, and what steps would be necessary to get them to rehab?

“I think the challenge is how different demographics of the population are involved in electoral politics. Older people with conservative backgrounds are more prominently voting, and younger people feel increasingly disillusioned with politics and struggle to engage. This creates a bias.” said Mat Southwell.

The Drug Policy Reform Session has centred on the decriminalisation of drugs. However, the work of Harm Reduction sits at the intersection of various movements. Many of the communities harm reductionists work with and belong to have also been criminalised through other legal frameworks: e. g. the criminalisation of sex work, migration, sexuality and reproduction (e.g. abortion) or poverty, just to name a few. 

What are mutual aid practices and support across movements still necessary to support broader decriminalisation processes, in your opinion?

Our session guests were Jochen Schroot of VAD – the Flemish centre of expertise on alcohol and other drugs, Iga Jeziorska of Youth Organisations for Drug Action (YODA), Mat Southwell of European Network of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD), Maria Plotko of Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) and Olga Belyaeva of Eurasian Network of People Who Use Drugs (ENPUD).

Enjoy listening to their conversation, and share your thoughts with us!

Equality & Human Rights | The Core of Harm Reduction

Today is Human Rights Day. Every year on 10 December, Human Rights is observed worldwide, “to proclaim the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being.” As announced by the UN, the 2021 theme of the Day is EQUALITY – Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights.

COVID-19 has started to be referred to as the inequality virus in recent times. Since the beginning of the pandemic, pre-existing inequalities have been exposed and exacerbated. As a response, international awareness days this year have emphasised the political, social, cultural and economic importance of upholding equity and human rights with renewed strength. An example of this has been the focus of the recently endorsed international World AIDS Day. In alignment with the 2030 Agenda, which is rich in slowly-but-surely approaching elimination goals, including AIDS, HIV, and deep-rooted forms of discrimination.

Today’s Human Rights Day is a crucial and opportune moment for human rights and drug policy reform movements for at least two reasons. On the one hand, it affirms that the war on drugs continues to sustain abusive policing, over-incarceration, coercion and punishment globally. On the other, it highlights the profoundly unequal outcomes of such repressive drug policies.

To mark Human Rights Day, the IDPC has shared its open letter to Ms Ghada Waly, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with a call to reform drug policies that entrench inequality. The letter “issues a strong statement on International Human Rights Day, calling on states to change the drug laws, policies and practices that violate health and human rights, and entrench inequality.” Please read the letter and ask your organisation to sign.

However, before you decide to sign such a letter, perhaps you would like to inform yourself more in-depth about current discussions on decriminalisation policies? During the 5th European Harm Reduction Conference 2021, EHRC21, we had a lively session titled “Drug policy: decriminalisation – the next logical step for Europe?” in which we discussed what you might be asking yourself now. What are the arguments for decriminalisation? If criminalisation can improve public health and human rights drastically, what are some of the complex and challenging questions that remain? You can watch it here. 

Also, remember to check the session titled “Mainstreaming Human Rights & Evidence-based Law Enforcement”. This EHRC21 session could also be a valuable look-back since in here essential discussions took place regarding the role that law enforcement agencies ought to have in addressing the needs of people who use drugs. Please watch it here. 

Today also marks the end of the #16DayActivism Challenge, which started on the International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women. The joint action by the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) and the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN), addressing violence, stigma, and discrimination against women who use drugs, shares its concluding remarks today, on Human Rights Day. Please read them here. 

Finally, today we are also launching the C-EHRN Podcast Series. To kick off our long-awaited podcast series’ idea, we held roundtable sessions during the EHRC21, talking to harm reductionists on several topics. We happily and excitedly present you with the first episode of the series about Human Rights.

For this session, we had four guests; Irena Molnar of ReGeneration, Machteld Busz of MainLINE, Sabrina Sanchez of ESWA and Aura Roig of Metzineres; four strong women representing the core of their work with boldness, kindness, sincerity and fire.
“We are the ones that avoid talking about human rights. Instead, we legitimise our services from a social control point of view. We need to break this cycle and indicate that we do our work for the health and well-being of the people.” said Aura Roig. 

Would you agree? Do we tend to forget that everything we do is in the name of equal human rights?
Listen to the podcast here and share your opinion with us.

Harm Reduction @Work: What a blast #EHRC21 was!

One of the participants shared her feelings after #EHRC21 with the phrase; the better the high, the bigger the comedown. We have waited long enough to have such a get-together, and it was a blast.

The Conference had a record number of participants. Over 400 people from 43 countries, including people from outside Europe such as the USA, Russia, Canada, and Lebanon, gathered in Prague from the 10th to the 12th of November. Overcoming the difficulties posed by the COVID19 pandemic, harm reductionists remained upbeat until the last minute. Even participants from afar continents like Australia, Africa, South America and Central Asia were hoping they could travel, until the very last minute. Staying positive is a trait we all share in the field of Harm Reduction, after all. To enable a wider audience, we also live-streamed some of the sessions with over 150 viewers.

The sessions were chaired by 28 representatives of organisations from across Europe. There were 116 speakers covering extensively urgent and current topics in the human rights movement of people who use drugs, sex workers, people experiencing homelessness and other marginalised communities. Just to name some. The biggest downer during the Conference was having to choose what to attend during parallel sessions because everything was equally exciting. 

Apologies for all the statistics but is this not absolutely incredible that the Conference thrived in such a fashion? So here comes a toast to all harm reductionists in the world.

You rock! Harm Reduction goes on!

..

Could you not attend for whatever reason?
See below ideas on how you can do a thorough follow-up:

The online discussions during the conference can be tracked down in social media with the hashtags #HRAtWork and #EHRC21, in case of arousal of curiosity 🙂

We are now busy uploading all shareable online. In the meantime, HERE are images from the Conference and HERE is the video teaser from the Conference done by the amazing Drug Reporter foundation.

Last, but not least important, either subscribe to our newsletter to not miss out on the news or follow us on social media via @CorrelationNet.

We would like to wholeheartedly thank all the Conference partners, chairs partners, speakers and participants for their time, energy and support in making the #EHRC21 memorable. Together, we will move the unmovable.

Zachte Landing Project: More than a return ticket and a farewell

We talked to Ewa Wielgat about the “Zachte Landing” Project and the T6 shelter, funded by the City of Amsterdam. Ewa is one of the social workers at AMOC, a drop-in centre managed by De Regenboog Groep.

T6 is a 24/7 shelter for people experiencing homelessness, some of whom are EU migrants. In the T6 shelter, clients can stay up to one year, which allows them to stabilise, recover from the stressful life on the streets and get themselves organised. Later, “Zachte Landing” completes the cycle by assisting EU migrants, without legal documents, insurance and work, with a safe and trustful passage to life in their home country if they are willing to return.

Their many clients deal with a broad range of problems (e.g. (mental) health problems, homelessness, extensive drug or alcohol use, lack of social contacts in the home country). Therefore, they need on-site support services, including medical or drug treatment, housing, mental health services and work integration.

Current Project partners are situated in Poland and Romania, as most of the clients at AMOC come from these countries. Ewa and her colleague are case managers, assisting the clients in their language. In addition, the case managers develop different steps and support services in cooperation with their partners in the respective countries.
Ewa says that they have already supported the return of several clients to their home country. They stay in contact and follow up on their development from here.

“Zachte Landing” builds on the idea that people can take responsibility for their lives. However, it also acknowledges the need for a stable and safe environment (e.g. housing, treatment) to motivate the clients in their decision-making.
The service provided by “Zachte Landing” certainly is more than buying a return ticket and sending clients to the unknown but guaranteeing them an assuring start and with care, support and empathy, boosting their confidence to try.
Although the project will end soon, Ewa is optimistic. The preliminary results of the project are promising. The integrated harm reduction approach works are empowering and show the positive impact of a stable and safe environment for the well-being of individuals and the recovery of people in vulnerable situations.

Projects such as “Zachte Landing” put the individual in the centre and treat them with respect and dignity. Something which everyone deserves. We hope to hear more about such projects and initiatives.

Please feel free to contact C-EHRN with your news.
We would happily support your efforts at our best.