Category: News from Member Organisations

Greek organisations united around the “Support. Don’t Punish” campaign

Posted on by Milutin

For one more year, the global campaign “Support.Don’t Punish” has been successfully implemented in Greece. In 2017, 6 different civil society organizations – that constitute the Greek NGO Platform for Psychoactive Substances, an unofficial initiative for joint action among organizations working in the area of drug policy and psychoactive substances – joined forces and cooperated in order to effectively spread the message of the campaign, sensitize the public, raise awareness regarding the harms being caused by the criminalization of people who use drugs and promote the need for human rights and public health oriented drug policy and drug law reform.

The organizations that supported the implementation of the campaign were:

  • “CENTRE FOR LIFE” for the support of people living with HIV/AIDS [DPNSEE member]
  • “DIOGENIS”- Drug Policy Dialogue [IDPC partner member & DPNSEE partner member]
  • “PeNUPS”- Peer Network of Users of Psychoactive Substances
  • “POSITIVE VOICE”- Association of People living with HIV/AIDS [DPNSEE member]
  • “PROMETHEUS” – Hellenic Liver Patient Association [DPNSEE member]
  • “PRAKSIS” [IDPC network member]

For the achievement of the aforementioned goals, two main activities were implemented:

  1. A press interview (June 27th, 12.00-14.00h, at Romantso, 3-5 Anaksagora Street, Omonia, Athens)
  2. A street event (June 27th, 19.00h at SIN Athina, Athens)

Furthermore, before the 27th of June, representatives of these organizations took the initiative to spread the message of the campaign during several official events, that were organized by state authorities by asking officials, journalists, scientists, decision-makers and other high-ranking representatives of governmental organizations to take a photograph with the logo of “Support.Don’t Punish” (e.g. Mrs. Teta Papoutsopoulou-Diamantopoulou, the National Drug Coordinator; Mr. Evaggelos Kavetzopoulos, President of the Hellenic Organization against Drugs- OKANA; Mr. Nikolaos Manios, Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Social Affairs; Μr. Nikolaos Paraskevopoulos, MP and former Minister of Justice).

The press interview given by representatives of PeNUPS

The press interview was given by representatives of PeNUPS (Peer Network of Users of Psychoactive Substances), Mr. Christos Anastasiou and Mr. John Kissas, promoting in that way peer involvement which is one of the basic principles of Harm Reduction.

The remaining organizations actively supported the needs for the preparation and successful implementation of this activity. It was the first time that people coming from the community of PWUD had the floor in a press interview, which attracted 30 participants and was coordinated by the journalist Mrs. Ioanna Sotirchou.

During the afternoon of the 27th of June, a street event also took place in the center of Athens. The goals of this activity were to make the campaign more visible, celebrate the message of “Support.Don’tPunish”, provide informational material and offer some services both to the general population and vulnerable groups (including PWUD) in the area.

 

The street event in the center of Athens

Volunteers from the coordinating organizations actively contributed in the implementation. T-shirts, bags, stickers with the logo of “Support. Don’t Punish” and flyers with the basic principles of Harm Reduction were distributed. In addition, NGO Praksis offered free, anonymous and voluntary rapid testing for HIV, HBV and HCV with its mobile unit. Moreover, of outmost importance was the contribution of the initiative “STEPS” that helped in the preparation of food and beverages and offered music. This event gathered and united around a hundred people.

For the needs of campaign’s promotion a facebook page was created under the title: Support.Don’t Punish -Greece- where you can have access to more detailed information, videos and photographs. Facebook advert was used attract more people to the page, resulted in 300 likes within a week.

2 facebook events were also created for the promotion of the two activities:

https://www.facebook.com/events/203865003471040

https://www.facebook.com/events/321069778316468

Group photo from the street event

Margina goes on!

Posted on by Milutin

As in previous years, Association Margina from Bosnia Herzegovina organized several activities within the campaign “Support. Don’t Punish”, this year on two locations: Tuzla and Zenica. During this year’s campaign, their goal was to focus on young people as target population through two aspects: scientific -through public debates at two universities in Tuzla and Zenica, as well as support for contemporary music events for young people – Sound of Nature Festival.

Activities had solid media coverage and the main goal was achieved. The messages were transferred and taken very seriously. Margina’s management was invited and held two meetings with the creators and decision-makers in these two regions, as well as the extraordinary hosting of the two most visited TV companies upon campaign completion. What they are most pleased with are the 50 new volunteers of the organization, with whom the coordinator has already begun preparations for new activities.

Support. Don’t Punish publlic debate

Chronologically the activities happened in this sequence:

25 June – Support to the Sound of Nature festival – 1300 participants, 800 leaflets and 4000 condoms distributed

26 June – The press release, with all details of the campaign, goals, history and data for Bosnia and Herzegovina on drug use, human rights violations and evidence base approach in creating a public health approach to drug users and their families

27 June – Public debate at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zenica, with participation of 90 participants

30 June – A public debate at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation, University of Tuzla, where a press conference was held, followed by a debate with students with a total of 60 participants

01 July – Margina President participated in the thematic show for half an hour

Generally, Margina is satisfied with these activities, especially with participation of the young ones, under the advice and support of the senior staff of our organization. They are especially pleased to have new members joining their volunteer team, which is preparing for the new activities and new challenges set by the organization.

Support. Don’t Punish 3D graffiti

ReGeneration movie marathon „Support. Don’t Punish”

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On Monday, 26 June 2017, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, NGO ReGeneration in the cooperation with KSEA ethnology and anthropology student club, organized a movie marathon within “Support. Don’t Punish” campaign. The event was organized on the open terrace of independent art space “Kvaka 22” in Belgrade while the movies were screened inside. Within movie program, the following three movies were presented: “Without shift”, “Clubbing and youth health” and “Medical cannabis legalization in Serbia”. All of the three documentaries were directed by the ReGeneration members and they present the projects and programs that were conducted by this organization.

Movie “Without shift” was premiered this time and it investigates what happened to NPB programs after the withdraw of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria from Serbia. The second movie follows the clubbing scene in Belgrade and the relationship between youth and psychoactive substances. Also, the results of the research which has involved 3318 young people were presented. The third film focuses on the story about medical cannabis legalization in local and global context.

First screening of the “Without shift” movie

Our guests were Siniša Dugonjić, the director of photography and editor of the first and the third movie, then Galeb Nikačević, who was interviewed in one of these movies but he has himself made some documentaries in „Vice“ production which consider the psychoactive substances in a different manner, and Milutin Milošević, the executive director of DPNSEE, who was also a protagonist in movies.

After the screening, the discussion was moved to the terrace, where the panel for #SupportDontPunish campaign was set. Informal meeting happened during the sunset, on this beautifully decorated terrace. The discussion was interactive, with minimal support of moderators. The guests from different fields – anthropologists, journalists, directors, designers, pharmacists, medical workers etc., contributed to the interdisciplinarity of youth education. Through the discussion, many questions have been raised, like the one about media attention to psychoactive substances in region, laws, politics and general discourse about psychoactive substances. In future, ReGeneration will continue to inform youth and to raise awareness about new psychoactive substances.

A petition for supporting Harm Reduction Programs and HIV prevention in Republic of Macedonia

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Further survival of harm reduction programs and HIV prevention in the Republic of Macedonia is uncertain. The current financial support from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria ends in June 2017. This will result with leaving over 10,000 people who use drugs as well as their family members without proper social and health care.

Thanks to harm reduction programs, only two new HIV cases have been recorded in Macedonia in the last ten years as a result of drugs injecting and less than 5% of 315 registered cases of HIV were people who inject drugs. These figures are far smaller than in the neighbouring countries. Macedonia can boast with the lowest HIV rate in Southeast Europe, but if these programs are not implemented, there is a risk of HIV epidemics as a result of interaction with the epidemics in neighbouring countries and the possibility of increasing risk behaviours.

There are 17 harm reduction programs in Macedonia (4 in Skopje and 13 in different other cities). These programs are efficient and financially worthwhile. According to the research analyses, the cost for one client in harm reduction programs is approximately 155 € per year. In contrast, the cost only for medicines for a patient with hepatitis C is up to 13.194 €, and the untimely and inappropriate treatment of hepatitis C causes cirrhosis and liver cancer, whose treatment costs more than 30.000 € per patient. Additionally, the costs of treating HIV and hepatitis C financially exhaust the families of people in need of treatment, thereby further multiplying undesirable costs and disrupting overall social well-being.

Therefore, a petition was initiated to request the Ministry of Health and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to:

  • Adopt an urgent solution for using funds from the HIV program and the remaining funds from the Global Fund for key programs across the country, which will ensure continued assistance to citizens and the prevention of HIV.
  • Establish cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the civil society and other stakeholders for adoption of appropriate laws or by-laws and measures that will guarantee transparency, adequate expertise and long-term sustainability and development of HIV prevention programs.

Sign up the petition here!

Healthy Options Project Skopje produced advocacy movie in cooperation with Drugreporter to support the campaign and save underfunded harm reduction programmes which are a huge success in the region. Watch the video produced and learn more!

Initiative for the establishment and coordination of the “Greek Observatory for the Medical Use of Cannabis”

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In view of the on-going progress in the field of the medical use of cannabis at international level, as well as the current developments in Greece, NGO Diogenis within a network of collaborating civil society organizations – with years of experience, knowledge and activity in this specific area of interest – is undertaking the initiative to set up and coordinate the establishment of the “Greek Observatory for the Medical Use of Cannabis”.

The common goal of organizations involved is to ensure the immediate, unhindered and legal access of patients to quality cannabis for medical use based on international evidence based data and best practices.

Fundamental conditions required to achieve this goal are considered to be:

  • The creation of the appropriate legal framework to support and protect patients in their use and possession of cannabis for medical purposes.
  • The guarantee of access for patients to the appropriate form of medicinal cannabis in accordance to the indications of each individual medical condition.
  • The development of strategies to strengthen domestic cannabis production for medical use, beyond the introduction of legal medicines and cannabis preparations from abroad, to protect both the domestic economy and patients from the inherent risks of a market which is quickly being dominated by large multinational companies and international investment funds.
  • The promotion and defence of patients’ rights in accordance with the European Charter of Patients’ Rights (i.e. the right of access to the health services that health needs require, the right to information, the right of free choice, the right to avoid unnecessary suffering and pain).

You can read the press release here.

Albania joined Support. Don’t Punish

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For the first time this year, Aksion Plus joined the “Support. Don’t Punish” campaign. In this framework, they organized an awareness campaign for two weeks, arranging different meetings, focus groups with the drug users related to human rights protection, what tools they can use to advocate for their rights and increase the access toward social, health and legal public services. One of the activities was the “Photo campaign” where we invited different stakeholders to make a photo with the poster of the campaign “Support, Don’t Punish”, such as decision making representatives and service providers of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Probation Service Institution, Public Health institutions, Ombudsman, social workers, psychologists, volunteers;  very known artists in TV and famous Albanian singers; service beneficiaries, such as MMT, sex workers, LGBT and Roma community members.

The main activity was the awareness day in occasion of 26th of June, in Durrës. Since most of the population is in summer holidays, Aksion Plus organized a big event on the beach, among vacationers.  For this event they closely collaborated with Caritas Albania, informing at the beginning their 50 young volunteers and on 26th the two organisations went together and distributed information among people. At the beginning of the activity, a big banderol with the logo “Support. Don’t Punish” was placed in an open place with key message on drug policy, in order for the passers-by to see and to understand what this activity was about.

Global Day of Actions 26 June in Durrës

Various local TV stations were invited (Top Channel Durrës, A1 Report). The director of Aksion Plus, Mr. Genci Mucollari, gave an interview on the aim of this day and activity. He called for all responsible institutions and decision makers’ involvement in injecting drug users’ human rights and access toward service provision. He gave some messages to general population, to say “no” to the discrimination toward these target-groups.

The day continued with the distribution of the brochures, leaflets and posters of the campaign. All the volunteers and staff was wearing T-shirt and hats with the message “Support. Don’t Punish”. It was an exciting day for young volunteers and they managed to distribute more than 2000 IEC materials.  More than 1500 existing and new brochures/leaflets were provided to other A+ centres.

This activity and other A+ news and information were widely covered through social networks. It had a good impact on the Facebook public, especially pictures with artists and politicians.

IDPC and DPNSEE was step by step posted and informed with written statements and pictures from these activities.

Albanian artists and politicians supporting the campaign

Support. Don’t Punish – SEE Country activities

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Albania

In the frame of the 26th of June and the world campaign Support. Don’t Punish, Aksion Plus will organize awareness activities in two cities, Tirana and Durrës, distributing leaflets and sharing information especially to young people. In parallel, they launched an online blog inviting young people, their beneficiaries and partners such as Y-peer, YMCA, Youth Voice network to write “What would you do about drug user’s rights, if you were a Prime minister” related to the drug policy reforms, treatment, and other related actions.

Other activities also involve their clients at opioid substitution therapy centres (OST) where they organise small group discussions, outreach information, leaflets distribution, one to one conversations and counselling to raise their awareness on how to better protect their rights, as well as to provide referrals to other institutions in case they face violations from police, courts and law enforcement agencies. The most vulnerable groups among their clients (i.e. street users, sex workers who use drugs, LGBT members) are strongly encouraged and supported to fight for their rights and report to Aksion Plus or to People’s Advocate when they face violence or marked stigma. Their six OST centres will be very active to convey the message of this campaign. Aksion Plus will also try to extend the activities with decision makers and politicians though it will be difficult as the general elections will take place on 25 of June. They have presented their ideas on drug policy and interventions during the Democratic Party election campaign.

Contact: gencaxionp@albmail.com

Bosnia and Herzegovina

To mark the day of 26th of June Association Margina planned a series of activities:
1. Public debate “Addiction and drug addicts in the legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina”
The public debate on this subject will be held on 26 June, in cooperation and partnership with the University of Tuzla. Professors and students of several universities (Law, Medicine, Education and Rehabilitation, Philosophy and Pharmaceutical) will participate. The goal is that academia provides guidelines on the suggestions of experts and NGOs that Bosnia and Herzegovina need Lex specialis “Law on Drugs” that would encompass all aspects of this phenomenon and its application in the society like the one in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2. Marking the global campaign “Support. Don’t Punish”
The evening of 26 of June will be dedicated to outdoor activities and promotion campaign supported by local DJs and socially engaged bands. During activities, a documentary film “I want to wake up,” will be shown, which gives a complete picture of the life of five drug users in different stages of their life.

3. Press conference and promotion of strategic documents
This event will be the introductory full-day program aimed to the media and partners that want information about these important documents and the developments regarding the Global Campaign to reach to the largest possible number of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At this event Margina will promote the following documents:
• National Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Drugs 2017-2022
• The policy for reducing harm from drug use in the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina
• EU Action Plan 2017-2020

Contact: berinabahic@gmail.com

Greece

A group of civil society organisations from Greece will participate in the campaign:
• “CENTRE FOR LIFE” – for the support of people living with HIV/AIDS
• “DIOGENIS”- Drug Policy Dialogue
• “PeNUPS”- Peers’ Network of Users of Psychoactive Substances
• “POSITIVE VOICE”- Association of People living with HIV/AIDS
• “PROMETHEUS” -Hellenic Liver Patient Association
• “PRAKSIS”

These organizations constitute the “Greek Platform for Psychoactive Substances”, an unofficial initiative for joint action among organizations working in the area of drug policy and psychoactive substances. This year all these organizations are supporting the campaign and are responsible for its implementation in Athens, Greece. You can find more at https://www.facebook.com/supportdontpunishGreece/

Activities in Greece will include:
1. Press conference by “PeNUPS” supported by all the aforementioned organizations on 27 June from 12:00 to 14:00 at  Romantso, 3-5 Anaksagora Street, Omonia, Athens with aim to promote the campaign, highlight the actual needs of people who use drugs by giving floor directly to people who are the most affected by problematic drug policies. The challenges in the national drug policy will also be presented and the need for drug law reform and peer involvement will be promoted as one of the basic principles of harm reduction. The discussion will be coordinated by the journalist Mrs. Sotirchou Ioanna.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/203865003471040/

2. Street event (all the aforementioned organizations) with aim to make the campaign more visible to the general population and to offer some services to people who use drugs (e.g. food, mobile washing machine service, shower bus, rapid tests for HIV/HBV, HCV) Date: to be announced Location: SIN Athina, Athens at 19.00 pm, at Varvakeios square
Facebook event:https://www.facebook.com/events/321069778316468 

Contact: sofia.galinaki@diogenis.info

Macedonia

HOPS – Healthy Options Project Skopje opened the newspaper articles contest on the topic: „Why harm reduction programs are needed in the Republic of Macedonia“. You can find the call for articles here http://hops.org.mk/mk/content/povik-za-izbor-na-najdobra-novinarska-statija-na-tema-odrzhlivosta-i-potrebata-na-programite.

Subsequently, organization announced on-line petition for support on harm reduction programs in the Republic of Macedonia. You can find it at following link: https://www.change.org/p/ministry-of-health-and-the-government-of-the-republic-of-macedonia-a-petition-for-supporting-harm-reduction-programs-and-hiv-prevention-in-of-macedonia

On 25 and 26 June, HOPS will collect signatures for the petition in the main square in the city of Skopje while on 30 June they plan to submit the petition to the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and announce the winner article.

Contact: vlatkod@hops.org.mk

Montenegro

Our Member organization Juventas with other civil society organisations and community-based organisations, including youth organisations organises campaign in capitol Podgorica, but with national coverage on several activities. One of them is media launch of the questionnaire for young people living in Montenegro. NGO Juventas and the Montenegrin Union of high school students as a main aim of the survey will try to obtain information from young people about young people. They will be used to continue creating activities aimed at young people in Montenegro, in the area of drug use. The questionnaire is completely anonymous. Survey among Youth on drug use you is available here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Juventas

In 2017, the campaign is planned to cover 3 topics: 1) Harm Reduction, 2) Non-existing treatment for underage people who use drugs, 3) Young people and drug use.  Special attention will be given to topic of young people and drug use, which will be a part of youth debate that we will organize around Action Day.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/799566700220674/ 

Contact: tijanap@gmail.com

Serbia

Belgrade

Within the “Support. Don’t Punish” Global Day of Action NGO Re Generation is planning to organize a movie screening night that will aim to address the main obstacles and main problems regarding current drug policies in Serbia and wider. The event will be organised in Kvaka 22, on the 26 June, and the details of the event you can find on the Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/312618992520893

The three movies that will be screened will represent different sides of public health and human right issues related to drug use, including three different aspects of use such as recreational, problematic and medical and obstacles that exist when accessing information, services and other relevant programs.
Movies to be screened are:

  1. “Clubbing and youth health” – Harm reduction programs in recreational setting
  2. “Medical cannabis legalisation in Serbia” – Medical cannabis is legal in places as diverse as Canada, Uruguay, Israel and Jamaica. How would legalisation of medical cannabis look in Serbia?
  3. “Without shift” – What happened to NSP programs in Serbia after the Global Fund discontinued funding in Serbia.

Participant of the debate are:
Galeb Nikačević – VICE Srbija
Bojan Arsenijević – Re Generation
Teodora Jovanović – KSEA,
Ognjen Martinović – Re Generation

Contact: ngo.re.generation@gmail.com

—

Novi Sad

The Association Prevent will organise street action on 26 June from 10AM to 13AM in front of „Slobodan Bajić“ student home. The public event will include wearing t-shirts with „Support. Don`t Punish“ message and photograšhing people in the street who will be holding boards with the same slogan. Free t-shirts will be given away to people who want to support the campaign.

Contact: djnebojsa84@yahoo.com

Romania

RHRN with their partners will have the street activity around 2-3 open-air tents that will be installed in the centre of Bucharest, close to the University, to distribute information, the comic book on drugs, some banners on legalization and the campaign, presentations of the NGOs activities and distribution of some drug testing kits (LSD, ecstasy).

Contact: drosca@rhrn.ro

YODA Workshop for young activists in Europe

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Last week (15 – 22 May) around 30 young people from 12 countries gathered in Belgrade for another round of workshops organised by Youth Organisations For Drug Action in Europe. This time the workshops, funded by European Youth Foundation and Open Society Initiatives, focused on “Promotion of social inclusion and protection of human rights among young drug users “.  Young people came from Serbia, UK, Belgium, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Macedonia and representative of the Council of Europe. 5 of them were representatives of DPNSEE member organisations Juventas, Re-Generation, Aksion Plus, HOPS and Margina.

The aim of the workshop was to analyse different aspects of human rights violations regarding young people and drugs through mentioned topics, so that official document can be drafted, addressing policy change in order to overcome different problems and prevent human rights violation in the future. Within 7-day long workshop participants were showcasing examples of human rights violations of young people protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and also compared the criminal penalties for drug offences in their countries, compared cases of young people receiving drug treatment and discussed access to drug treatment for young people who use drugs.

Association Prevent in Youth Exchange “To smart to start”

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The team of brilliant young people represented Association Prevent in Youth Exchange “Too smart to start”, which was organized in Saint-Etienne in France. This was an opportunity to meet with young people from Spain, France and Albania to exchange information about the situation in the field of drugs in these countries.

 

During the training, great video clips were created, designed to prevent the use of psycho active substances. In Lyon a performance was made, that animated passersby to think about the dangers of drug use. Prevent’s caravan visited along the way – Postojna Cave, Verona, Monte Carlo and Trieste.

Follow their facebook page to find out more on their activities and get informed!

Successful charity auction for the kids of HOPS

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HOPS and “Move with your finger “  (Mrdni so prst), together with Macedonian well-known actor Sasko Kocev and a huge number of Macedonian artists have organised a successful charity auction for the kids that are visiting HOPS.

The charity auction was held on 11th April at 19 o’clock in “Public Room” for the kids whose parents are\were drug users and sex workers.

“As a lack of finances we had a great need to make a move with our fingers and to organize a charity auction in order, for the children whose parent are using our services, to continue visiting our daily center for rehabilitation and re-socialization, where they can visit their psychologist, pedagogue, social workers, where they can be creative and their creative mind will be developed, and at the same time we will give them the opportunity to participate in more social activities and visit more cultural events – said Irena Mila from HOPS, now we can organize many birthdays, workshops and events together.

Smiling faces, beautiful atmosphere, “Public Room” was full with beautiful people, Sasko Kocev in element and generous known and famous Macedonian artists, designers and writers were part of this auction. This was the picture on Tuesday evening when we all were moving with our fingers for kids that are visiting our daily center for rehabilitation and re-socialization. The goal is achieved!

We sold all the artworks and we gathered 295.692 Macedonian denars. – Irena Mila from HOPS.

 

“If we want to do something to the society and raise awareness about many things, we need to move just with one finger! Just imagine if we give so much effort for something and moving with our finger is just the beginning and I truly hope that we will “open” everyone eyes about a lot of marginalised groups! We have a lot of artworks that have been donated from our artists, designers, writers, also we have a jersey from our famous footballer Goran Pandev, get prepared to bid because kids from HOPS need our help!” – said Sasko Kovec in the crowded “ Public Room “ at the beginning of the auction.

 

The event was opened by DJ Cako, who is a proud Macedonian ambassador to the United Nation, representing people with Down syndrome, he heated up the atmosphere and made everyone to dance from the very beginning. After a short speech by Hristijan Jankulovski, CEO of HOPS, who thanked all present guests because they moved their finger and decided to help to solve the problem, which on the other hand would leave these kids without the necessary care. Besides the loud auction, there was a silent auction, where people bided on the sheet of paper for all the artworks that were donated.

After a successful auction, the evening continued with DJ Goce Saf, when literally everyone in “Public Room” was dancing. This charity auction, supported by famous Macedonian artists was meant for the children whose parents are drug users or sex workers.