Recording – City Report Launch | Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe

The video is the recording of the report launch webinar that took place on Tuesday, 9th April 2024.

The City Reports are the final segment of Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN)’s Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction 2023 Data Report. These concise harm reduction ‘case studies’ highlight either innovative practices or urgent issues demanding immediate attention in five different European cities. The reports will serve as advocacy tools to engage decision makers at all levels, either by showcasing best practices or as an urgent call to action.

Panellists:

 

Following a new format, Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network’s Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe 2023 Data Report is launched in 6 volumes: Hepatitis C Care, Essential Harm Reduction Services, New Drug Trends, Mental Health of Harm Reduction Staff, TEDI Reports and City Reports (Warsaw, Bălţi, Esch-sur-Alzette, London, Amsterdam). The Executive Summary can be accessed here.

Recording – Roundup Webinar | Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe

 

The video is the recording of the webinar organised to celebrate the core publications for the C-EHRN Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe that took place on the 7th of March.

The event brought together four volumes of the 2023 Data Report:


Moderator: Rafaela Rigoni (C-EHRN)

Speakers:
Iga Jeziorska (C-EHRN) – Essential Harm Reduction Services
Tuukka Tammi (THL) – Eliminating Hepatitis C in Europe
Daan van der Gouwe (Trimbos) – New Drug Trends
Guy Jones (TEDI) – Drug Checking Observations and European Drug Checking Trends via TEDI

 
Following a new format, Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network’s Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe 2023 Data Report is launched in 6 volumes: Hepatitis C Care, Essential Harm Reduction Services, New Drug Trends, Mental Health of Harm Reduction Staff, TEDI Reports and City Reports (Warsaw, Bălţi, Esch-sur-Alzette, London, Amsterdam). The Executive Summary can be accessed here.

Watch the short film introducing CORE – COmmunity REsponse to End Inequalities!

Introducing CORE – COmmunity REsponse to End Inequalities!
 
Uniting the efforts of 24 partners from 16 countries, CORE puts community responses in the centre, empowering them to scale up the services and lead HIV, HCV, and TB responses. In this introductory film, CORE partners talk about the situation and challenges with community response and their expectations for the 3 years of the project.
 
 

Inspiring Short Film on Ireland’s Health Led Approach to Drugs Use

In June 2023, Drugreporter visited Dublin where they interviewed key experts about Ireland’s drug policy developments. Through the resulting film, you can get to know the Ana Liffey Drug Project, a leading low-threshold harm reduction program in downtown Dublin, and learn about key issues of drug policy in Ireland through the lens of experts. The film also introduces the work of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use.

“The Citizens’ Assembly members worked hard and were engaged in a subject well known as a complex multifaceted policy topic. Theirs was an unprecedented effort of deliberative democracy by 99 citizens, supported by an independent Chairperson and a government secretariat, to consider the attendant issues related to drugs use in Ireland and to make recommendations to the Government.” (Tony Duffin, the CEO of Ana Liffey Drug Project)

To complement the film, Tony Duffin, CEO of Ana Liffey, shares a thought-provoking reflection on Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use. Dive deeper into the assembly’s recommendations and the transformative potential they hold in steering Ireland’s drug policies towards a more progressive, health-driven direction in the article on Drugreporter’s website.

The interviewed experts in the film are: Francesca Osborne, Saoirse Aitken, Tony Duffin, Damien Gagnevin, (Ana Liffey Drug Project), Jim Walsh (Drugs Policy and Social Inclusion Unit Department of Health), Andy O’Hara (UISCE Advocacy Service for People who use Drugs in Ireland), Anna Quigley (CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign), Stacey Lyons (National Voluntary Drug and Alcohol Sector)

The production of the video has been co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s)only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Ana Liffey Drug Project | https://www.aldp.ie
Correlation European Harm Reduction Network | https://www.correlation-net.org
Drugreporter | https://www.drugreporter.net

Produced by the Rights Reporter Foundation – Drugreporter, 2023
Reporter | Péter Sárosi
Video | István Gábor Takács

Data Report Launch Recording

Online launch of the 2022 Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe.

 

C-EHRN hosted an online launch and discussion of the 2022 Monitoring Report on the 23rd February. During this webinar, key findings and results in Essential Harm Reduction Services, Hepatitis C and Drug Use, and New Drug Trends in Europe were discussed. Implications and opportunities for civil society advocacy, service provision and policy development were also addressed.

 

Speakers;

Katrin Schiffer (CEHRN), Rafaela Rigoni (CEHRN), Iga Jeziorska (CEHRN), Daan van der Gouwe (Trimbos-Instituut), Tuukka Tammi (THL), Perrine Roux (Inserm), Mat Southwell (EuroNPUD) and Alexei Lahov (Humanitarian Action).

 

Watch the full recording here.

 

Online Launch Data Report 2021

On the 1tth of May 2022, Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network launched its Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe in 2021.

With the contributions of more than one hundred organizations and individuals from 34 European countries, the development and implementation of the Civil Society Monitoring Tool for Harm Reduction are one of the most important achievements of C-EHRN in recent years. The main aim of C-EHRN monitoring activities is to improve knowledge and information and complement existing data and monitoring efforts in Europe in specific areas of harm reduction based on the perspective of civil society organisations. As such, C-EHRN’s monitoring activities acknowledge the important function of civil society and harm reduction services and foster their expert role in national and European drug policy.

During this webinar, C-EHRN launched the Data Report 2021, presented its key findings and discussed them with representatives from different European organizations and institutions.

C-EHRN Podcast Series #4: Mental Health, a humbug or an alarming topic?

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected mental health. Prior to the pandemic, marginalised communities already experienced a disproportionate risk of mental health conditions, along with consistently poorer mental health outcomes. It is commonly acknowledged that mental health should become an essential part of any pandemic response, particularly for marginalised communities in general and people who use drugs. However, that is yet not the case.

We talked to Jakub Gren of the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw, Ben Collins and Nia Dunbar of ReShape/International HIV Partnerships, and Eliza Kurcevic of Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA). Following the session, NPS and Mental Health: humbug or an alarming situation? at the 5th European Harm Reduction Conference 2021 in Prague, our guests discussed the vulnerable communities’ main barriers in accessing mental health care and support. In addition, they told us what works and what does not.

What do you think?

Listen to the podcast and share your thoughts with us!

#HRAtWork #CEHRN #HarmReduction

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!

C-EHRN Podcast Series #2: Harm Reduction and Broader Development of Societies

Harm Reduction is not only a set of practices, strategies or approaches to support the needs of marginalised and underserved communities. As such, it is also a human rights movement for social justice. Moving away from responses that solely focus on individual [health] behaviours, harm reduction also brings attention to the impact of social determinants on health.

We talked to Tony Duffin of Ana Liffey Drug Project, Beatrix Vas of Youth Rise and Marta Borges of Social Emergency Unit, Portuguese Institute for Social Security. Following the opening session The Development of Drug Policy and Harm Reduction at the 5th European Harm Reduction Conference in Prague, we discussed advocacy, decriminalisation, and health inclusion, with our guests.

“We manage to be gatekeepers and not human rights services because we put so many questions to let people in that we end up keeping them out. This is the type of advocacy, we have been working on.” says Beatrix Vas.

“How we work with people and how we view people should be changed.” adds Tony Duffin.

And, Marta Borges tells us about how the situation has been like since the arrival of decriminalisation, the “holy-grail”, in her country, Portugal.

Enjoy listening and tell us what you think!

#HRAtWork #HarmReduction #EHRC21

Whoop whoop! C-EHRN Podcast Series is out!

On Human Rights Day, 10th December, we launched C-EHRN Podcast Series. To kick off our long-awaited podcast series’ idea, we held roundtable sessions during the 5th European Harm Reduction Conference 2021 in Prague, 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?
Share your opinion with us.

Listen to the podcast here. Follow us for more.