Tag: General Assembly

1st regular annual General Assembly in Belgrade

Posted on by Milutin

New enthusiasm for the future 

The Drug Policy Network South East Europe held its 1st regular annual General Assembly in Belgrade, Serbia on 29 and 30 November 2016. It was the opportunity for the extended number of member organisations to meet, analyse the work on establishing the Network and decide about the future work.

Thanks to the generous support from the Office for combating drugs of the Republic of Serbia, the
Assembly was held in the Palace Serbia, the governmental representative building. Representatives of 16
out of 18 member organisations participated, including 10 newly recognised members.

The Assembly adopted the report about the work in 2016 and financial report presenting participation in
the UNGASS process and stabilisation and positioning of the Network as the main activities. The plans for
2017 were also adopted, based on the strategic priorities proposed by the Board and ideas for possible
projects. Interim results of the research on the harm reduction and treatment services were presented and
the plan for completing it in 2017 were supported.

Changes in the Board were introduced to ensure that this governing body is active in implementing the
action plan. Tijana Žegura (Juventas, Montenegro) is elected new Chairperson and Vlatko Dekov (HOPS,
FYRO Macedonia) new Vice-Chair. While Denis Dedajić (Margina, Bosnia Herzegovina) and Saša Mijović (4 Life, Montenegro) remain members of the Board as Secretary and Member, newly elected Board members are Erlind Plaku (Aksion Plus, Albania) which will serve as Deputy Secretary, Marios Atzemis (Positive Voice, Greece) Treasurer and Nebojša Đurasović (Prevent, Serbia) as Deputy Treasurer.

The Assembly thanked outgoing Chairman Thanasis Apostolou and Board members Tanja Mandić, Bogdan
Glodeanu and Dragoș Roșca for their contribution to the Network.

Changes to the Statutes which were adopted ensure availability for wider scope of actions to the Network,
better define internal processes and ensure that a representative of the community of persons who use
drugs is in the Board. The first version of the Code of Conduct is also agreed to be the basis for governance.

The Assembly welcomed one new member organisation – Prometheus from Athens, Greece. The Network
now has 19 member organisations from 9 countries of South East Europe. Plans for enlargement in 2017
were confirmed so it is expected that new members will come soon!

A new and exciting period started and we hope that it be a fruitful one!

 

The 3rd Board Meeting of Drug Policy Network South East Europe

Posted on by Milutin

Στιγμιότυπο 2016-05-16, 12.23.32 μ.μ.

Planning the future
The third Board Meeting of Drug Policy Network South East Europe dedicated to strategic planning took place in the Scout Centre Daljan in Ohrid, FYROM from 24 to 26 of August 2016. A specific introduction to the Board meeting was the meeting of the partners of the project “Strengthening NGO capacity and promoting public health and human rights oriented drug policy in South East Europe”. The partners reported on actions in 2016 and planned future activities of the project, including actions to be taken late this year and possible actions to include in the project plan for 2017.

Discussing Network membership, the Board Meeting proposed for the membership:

·            6 organisations to become the ordinary members of DPNSEE: Aksion Plus, Albania; Cazas, Montenegro; Center for Life, Greece; Juventas, Montenegro; Proi, Bosnia and Hercegovina; and Re Generation, Serbia

·            2 organisations to become the associated members of DPNSEE: ARAS, Romania and Prometheus, Greece.

The letter of proposals will be forwarded to the General Assembly of the Network and the electronic assembly will be organised for the voting on proposed memberships. The Staff presented numerous calls for project proposals where the Network and member organisations can apply. Successful proposals would help build capacity and ensure sustainability of the Network. The Board also made an extensive list of possible source of funds to collect co-funding for the European Union project in 2016. The purpose of the strategic planning exercise was to determine the basis for the strategy of the Network, based on the Vision and Mission of the DPNSEE. It was a systematic process of envisioning a desired future, and translating this vision into defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.

The strategic priorities proposed for the period 2017 – 2020 are: 

1.          Sustainability of the services – including but not limited to financing the programs, harm reduction, treatment, etc.

2.          Policy development – including advocacy, strengthening civil society, establishing partnership and promotion dialogue, undertaking researches to ensure evidence based approach, etc.

3.          Strengthening the Network – the Board, Office, Expert committee, but focusing on the Member organizations, including enlargement, capacity building, establishing a resource centre, etc.

The Action plan to implement the Strategy should be built on the needs recognised by the member organisations and situation in the drug policy field in South East Europe.

The board agreed that the 4th Board meeting and the General assembly will be held in Belgrade, Serbia from 28 to 30 November 2016.