Tag: Civil Society Forum on Drugs

Preparation call for CSFD members

Posted on by Milutin

The current Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) Core Group (which terminated their mandate) organised a preparation call for all CSFD members in the new mandate on 15 September.

During the meeting, a number of topics were discussed:

  • The rejected CSFD Proposal and the impact of this on the work of the new CSFD
  • The agenda of the first CSFD meeting scheduled for 6 – 7 October 2021
  • The working group structure of the new CSFD
  • All potential questions coming from CSFD members

The Drug Policy Network Youth East Europe have been selected as a member of the European Commission Expert Group – Civil Society Forum on Drugs 2021-2023.

Research on EU Action Plan on Drugs

Posted on by Milutin

The EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) hosts the survey on Civil Society Perspectives on the implementation of the EU Action Plan on Drugs aiming to assess the state of implementation of the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2017-2020 in the EU Member States and beyond. It is addressed to civil society organisations working in the field of drug policy. The survey is addressed to representatives of civil society working in drug policy and it’s all specific areas.

Following the survey conducted at the beginning of the Action Plan 2017-2020 implementation (report can be accessed here>>>), the CSFD continues the monitoring of accessibility and quality of key demand reduction and harm reduction measures. This survey aims to collect the data allowing for the evaluation of the current situation and identify the potential changes taking place during the last three years. Its results, complemented with other elements of this research project, will be published on the CSFD website.

It is extremely important to collect enough data to be able to see the general picture of the European situation. The CSFD research projects, including this survey, are one of the very few bottom-up attempts to fill this gap in knowledge. Collecting information on the state of key demand and harm reduction services will allow to identify shortcomings and gaps in drug policy implementation in European countries. This, in turn, will serve as information for policy-makers and an advocacy tool for civil society actors at the European, national, and local levels.

The survey is available following this link>>>. Deadline is 12 June 2021.

 

Drug policy evaluation models presented

Posted on by Milutin

DPNSEE and Trimbos Institute hosted the Webinar “Drug Policy evaluations: opportunities to support inclusive, effective and evidence-based public policy” on Wednesday 10 February 2021. The aim of the Webinar was to provide information on drug policy evaluation as an effective instrument to guide, manage and support effective policies and services.

The Webinar included an introduction on drug policy evaluations and presentations on approach and methods and experiences from the evaluations performed in Croatia and Cyprus. Discussions in three separate discussion rooms followed on different segments of a policy/strategy cycle.

More than 90 representatives of governmental organisations, both on national and local level, academia, civil society organisations, coming from 31 countries, and international organisations participated.

The presentations from the Conference are ready to download:

  • Introduction to drug policy evaluation: Liesbeth Vandam, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction following this link>>>
  • Drug Policy evaluations: approach and methods: John-Peter Kools, Trimbos Institute following this link>>>
  • Drugs policy evaluation – experience and benefits: Sanja Mikulić, Head, Service for combating drugs abuse, Croatian Institute of Public Health, Croatia following this link>>>
  • Online opportunities: Daan van der Gouwe, Trimbos Institute following this link>>>
  • Experiences from online/hybrid evaluation: Chrysantos Georgiou, Cyprus following this link>>>.

 

Webinar on Drug Policy Evaluations

Posted on by Milutin

The Drug Policy Network South East Europe and Trimbos Institute invite you to participate in the webinar that will provide information on drug policy evaluation as an effective instrument to guide, manage and support effective policies and services. The Webinar is supported by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the European Civil Society Forum on Drugs.

The Webinar will present an insight on how various actors can contribute to a process of monitoring and evaluation of drug policies and can benefit from. It will:

  • showcase the benefits of drug policy evaluations
  • provide examples of recent regional drug policy (e.g. Croatia, Cyprus)
  • provide opportunities of online evaluations

The webinar may serve as a source of inspiration to support all those involved process of building better drug policies. It is especially suitable for regional drug policy makers, regional civil society groups, European and other interested participants.

The Plenary introductions will include:

  • Introduction on drug policy evaluations
  • Drug Policy evaluations: approach and methods
  • Benefits from independent evaluation
  • Online opportunities
  • Experiences from online/hybrid evaluation.

Three parallel breakout sessions will follow on What is needed to prepare a national drug policy?, How to monitor progress? and How to learn from and improve policies?

The Webinar will be held via Zoom at the following link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86598224178 on Wednesday 10 February 2021 starting at 14:00 CET. The Webinar will last for 120 minutes.

As the number of participants is limited, please register by Monday 8 February using the form attached here>>>.

 

A New EU Drug Strategy is Being Prepared by the German Presidency

Posted on by Milutin

The 2021-25 EU Drugs Agenda recently published by the European Commission was criticised by civil society and member states. We have already posted comments from Péter Sárosi, the executive director of the Rights Reporter Foundation and an article about the sign-on letter of the International Drug Policy Consortium’s (IDPC) members, raising our very serious concerns regarding the new 2021-25 EU Agenda and Action Plan on Drugs.

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) also criticised the Agenda in its position paper for its stigmatising language and framework, lack of balanced approach, reduced role for harm reduction, decreased relevance of human rights and several other reasons.

Member States did not accept the new EU Drugs Agenda proposed by the EU Commission. The Horizontal Working Party on Drugs (HDG) decided that a new EU strategy will be prepared by the German presidency.

To read more about the positions of the CSFD, follow this link>>> to the article on the Rights Reporter Foundation website.

 

A calls for global drug policies that promote & protects the humanrights of women

Posted on by Milutin

Οn the occasion of International Women’s Day (ΙWD), celebrated on March 8 every year, the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD)  has published recommendations on the importance of promoting gender equality to achieve a balanced approach to the drug phenomenon and calls for global drug policies that promote & protects the humanrights of women. CSFD hopes that these recommendations “can be of use in informing the positions of the European Union at the Ministerial Segment and at the 62nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs”.

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) takes this opportunity to emphasize the need for global drug policies to pay special attention to women and the promotion and defence of their rights.

Civil sociaty forum on Drugs

They note that the theme for IWD in 2019 is ‘Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change’, focusing on: ‘innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure’.

Also they note that the provisional agenda for the Ministerial Segment includes a roundtable on ‘Taking stock of the implementation of all commitments made to jointly address and counter the world drug problem…’. These commitments include the Outcome Document of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs – which includes a strong gender component as it relates to drug policy.

The UNGASS Outcome Document also highlights the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, noting that ‘efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to effectively address the world drug problem are complementary and mutually reinforcing’.

The achievement of SDG 5 on gender equality will necessitate that drug policies and programmes adopt a strong gender component to ensure that women are not left behind in efforts to control the illicit drug market.

Using the UNGASS Outcome Document structure, the CSFD wishes to offer specific recommendations which CSFD hope can be of use in informing the positions of the European Union at the Ministerial Segment and at the 62nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

To download this Recommendation follow this link>>>>