The Drug Policy Network South East Europe and its member organisations from Serbia (Prevent, TOC, Duga, Re Generacija) and Montenegro (Juventas, Cazas) implement the UNODC-led project “Emergency support for the provision of HIV and Harm Reduction services among key populations in Ukraine and refugees in selected neighbouring countries“.
Primary objectives of the project are:
- Ensuring the continuity of the HIV prevention, treatment and care (including OAT and ARV) services for people who use drugs/living with HIV
- Community-based care and support for people who use drugs, people living with HIV, people in prisons
- Provision of essential requirements, including food and medicines and shelters, in coordination with the penitentiary service/local CSOs
Our organisations will implement the following activities:
- Provide access to information about health services and drugs and ensure clear, reliable and trustworthy health information reaches refugees
- Support in accessing health care in host country
- Rapid provision/purchasing of basic products for existing key populations/refugee shelters/centers
- Provision of HIV harm reduction services for key populations (including refugees)
- HIV and harm reduction services for people who use drugs, including new psychoactive substances
- Mobilising civil society, service providers, policymakers and other national stakeholders from the Western Balkan region to ensure wide and all-involving drug strategy development process
- Increased awareness and understanding regarding comprehensive gender-sensitive HIV services for women who use drugs (WUD) among health care managers, service providers and decision-makers
This project will be conducted in UNODC partnership with the local CSOs and aims to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to address HIV prevention, treatment, care and support among people who use drugs (including those who use NPS/stimulants) internally displaced populations, refugees and prison populations.
Project findings will inform the development and implementation of evidence-based, gender-responsive and sustainable HIV and harm reduction services for people who used drugs/people in and released from prisons, and IDPs/refugees in Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro.
Latest news
- Two more workshops on Women, Violence, and the Use of Drugs were held in Novi Sad and Niš. Read more>>>.
Recent news
- The information of relevance about health services and drugs for the refugees from Ukraine and displaced persons from Russia which DPNSEE prepred have been printed and are now ready for dissemination. Read more>>>.
- A workshop for service providers and shelter staff on Women, Violence, and the Use of Drugs was held in Belgrade. Read more>>>.
- DPNSEE collected information of relevance about health services and drugs for the refugees from Ukraine and displaced persons from Russia. Read more>>>.
- Serbia extended temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine for an additional year. Read more>>>.
- Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) presented its annual report Right to Asylum in the Republic of Serbia 2022. Read more>>>.
- UNODC representatives visited the Duga Checkpoint centre in Belgrade and met with community-led organizations working on HIV and harm reduction services for key populations. Read more>>>.
- The Regional round table focused on community-led consultative process on the importance of human rights and evidence-based national drug strategies in HIV response was held on 21 Feburary 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. Read more>>>.
- NGO ReGeneracija held the training “Piloting web outreach services for working with people who use drugs and are at risk of HIV/AIDS, with a special focus on new psychoactive substances, stimulants and recreational drug use”. Read more>>>.
- Our member organisation Re Generation provides web outreach services to displaced Ukrainian and Russian citizens in the form of peer consultations and counseling on the topics of harm reduction. Read more>>>.
- Our member organisation Re Generation will implement the research study “The needs assessment among Ukrainian refugees and Russian migrants in the Republic of Serbia on access to services and new psychoactive substances/stimulant use“. Read more>>>.
- Partners in the project held a coordination meeting with the representative of the UNODC Regional Programme Office for Eastern Europe. Read more>>>.
- Launching the project in Serbia. Read more>>>.
- Project partners meeting. Read more>>>.
- Meeting with the UN agencies. Read more>>>.
- A project for refugee key populations from Ukraine. Read more>>>.
- A visit to UNODC Office in Belgrade. Read more>>>.
Drug Policy Network South East Europe (DPNSEE) together with the project partners Aksion Plus (Albania), Margina (Bosnia Herzegovina), Juventas (Montenegro), Prevent and Re Generation (Serbia) implement the project “No Risk, no borders for young people”. The project is supported by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) within its 4th Open Call and co-financed by the European Union.
The project directly addresses the following main issues/problems:
- Present and increasing stigmatization of the marginalized youth groups targeted by the project – youth at risk (young people who use drugs, youth in conflict with the law and youth with alternative lifestyles and identities: sex workers, LGBTI population, young people in conflict with the law, and others), as also lack of the visibility and mutual understanding of their needs;
- Lack of the regional youth cooperation on the issue of the targeted marginalized youth groups; and
- Lack of the active youth participation and leadership in CSOs.
The project is strongly focused on youth at increased risk consisting of young people who use drugs, sex workers, LGBTI population, youth in conflict with the law and others addressed as “youth with alternative lifestyles and identities”.
Latest news
- The Closing event of the Call for Project Proposals 2020 “A Better Region Starts with Youth” in Montenegro was held on 8 February 2022. Read more>>>.
Recent news
- The Closing event of the Call for Project Proposals 2020 “A Better Region Starts with Youth” in Bosnia Herzegovina was held on 7 February 2022. Read more>>>.
- The Closing event of the Call for Project Proposals 2020 “A Better Region Starts with Youth” in Serbia was held on 7 February 2022. Read more>>>.
- The regional Curriculum for working with youth at risk was published. It is available in English, Albanian and Bosnian – Montenegrin – Serbian versions. Read more>>>.
- The Closing event of the “No risk, no borders for young people” project was held on 22 October 2021. Read more>>>.
- The Project Team meeting of the “No risk, no borders for young people” project met for the last time on 21 October 2021. The main aims of the meeting were to discuss the final version of the Curriculum for work with youth at risk, to plan the final Promotional event of the project and plan evaluation. Read more>>>.
- The Project Team meeting of the “No risk, no borders for young people” project was held online to discuss the first draft of the Curriculum for working with young people in risk and steps for closing the project. Read more>>>.
- The experts for preparing the Curriculum focused on work with the youth at risk have held a focus group with young participants of the “No risk, no borders for young people” project. Read more>>>.
- The Project Team have chosen external experts to prepare the regional Curriculum focused on work with the youth at risk. Read more>>>.
- DPNSEE and its partners in implementing the “No risk, no borders for young people” project open the Call for experts to develop the regional Curriculum focused on work with the youth at risk.. Read more>>>.
- Participants of the “No risk, no borders for young people” gathered at the Zoom meeting on 18 August 2021. Read more>>>.
- The DPNSEE Staff and RYCO Local Branch Offices Belgrade and Tirana had Fourth program check in meeting of the “No risk, no borders for young people” on 14 September 2021. Read more>>>.
- DPNSEE Staff participated in the Financial Management Training organised by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office on 13 August 2021. Read more>>>.
- The “No risk, no border” Project team held an online meeting on 30 July 2021. Read more>>>.
- On 14 July 2021 we held the On the spot check meeting with our colleagues from the Regional Youth Cooperation Office to get the feedback on the narrative and financial interim of the report. Read more>>>.
- The DPNSEE Staff and RYCO Local Branch Office Belgrade had the Third program check in meeting of the “No risk, no borders for young people” on 13 July 2021. Read more>>>.
- DPNSEE have submitted the Interim report for the first three months of implementation of the No risk, no borders for young people in South East Europe project. Read more>>>.
- The DPNSEE Staff and RYCO Local Branch Office Belgrade had a regular update on the implementation of the “No risk, no borders for young people” on 25 May 2021. Read more>>>.
- To get to know each other and “warm up” for the Workshop, DPNSEE and partners of the “No risk, no borders” project invited project participants to an online meeting on Wednesday 19 May 2021. Read more>>>.
- The “No risk, no border” Project team held an online meeting on 14 May 2021. Read more>>>.
- Partners of the project “No Risk, no borders for young people” openned a Call for young people aged 18 – 28 from the Western Balkans to send their application for participate in the project. Read more>>>.
- Aleksa Antić from Kruševac, Serbia, proposed the logo and visual identity that was declared winner of the Open call. Read more>>>.
- Partners of the project “No Risk, no borders for young people” invited young people aged 15 – 30 from the Western Balkans to send their proposals for the visual identity of the project. Read more>>>.
- The Preparatory meeting of the “No risk, no borders for young people” project was held on 25 March 2021 in the DPNSEE Office. Read more>>>.
- The DPNSEE Staff and RYCO Local Branch Office Belgrade had an online meeting to update on the implementation of the “No risk, no borders for young people” on 23 March 2021. Read more>>>.
- We participated in the RYCO Training for 4th Open Call Grantees held on 11 March 2021 to get a full insight into administrative and financial procedures to implement the project. Read more>>>.
- Representatives of the project partners held a consultative online meeting to agree on the first steps in implementation of the project. Read more>>>.
- DPNSEE signed the contract for implementation of the project at the Contracting Meeting was held on 23 February 2021 in the Human Rights House (Kuća ljudskih prava), in Belgrade. Read more>>>.
- DPNSEE project proposal shortlisted for the fourth RYCO Open Call for Project Proposals. Read more>>>.
- 130 project proposals submitted to the RYCO 4th Open Call for Project Proposals. Read more>>>.
The current drug policies are based on a punitive repressive approach to discourage drug use and illegal production and distribution of drugs. This policy has been proven not to be effective. The Aim of this project was to promote drug policies and drug legislation based on a public health and human rights approach. That will lead to a more humane and effective drug policy.
Objectives of the project were to:
- Continue with a strong presence of NGOs in the dialogue with the political actors and other stakeholders towards a more realistic and humane policy for drug users.
- Strengthen the Network and member organisations
This project was the result and expected continuation of the cooperation between the organisations in South East Europe which dates back to 2009.
The project was supported by the European Union through Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) programme Civil Society Facility (CSF) EuropeAid/136-034/C/ACT/Multi. The project run for 4 years, from 2015 to 2018.
The project lead was organisation Diogenis, Drug Policy Dialogue from Greece with partners from the region: Aksion plus from Albania, Margina from Bosnia Herzegovina, NGO 4life from Montenegro, Prevent from Serbia and DPNSEE.
Results of the project include:
- Better co-ordinated actions of NGOs – broader than at the national level
- Better consultation of civil society organisations on the national level
- Larger network of strong member organisations (DPNSEE was created as one of the outputs of the project)
- Efficient and reliable structures of the Network
Support. Don’t Punish is a global advocacy campaign calling for better drug policies that prioritise public health and human rights. The campaign aims to promote drug policy reform, and to change laws and policies which impede access to harm reduction interventions.
The campaign aligns with the following key messages:
- The drug control system is broken and in need of reform
- People who use drugs should no longer be criminalised
- People involved in the drug trade at low levels, especially those involved for reasons of subsistence or coercion, should not face harsh or disproportionate punishments
- The death penalty should never be imposed for drug offences
- Drug policy in the next decade should focus on health and harm reduction
- By 2020, 10% of global resources expended on drug policies should be invested in public health and harm reduction
On the occasion of the 26 June also the United Nations’ International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking the Global Day of Action of the Support Don’t Punish Campaign is organised in more than 150 cities in the world.
The Drug Policy Network South East Europe coordinates activities of the campaign in South East Europe, where our member organizations are pushing actions in countries and cities with activities that vary from the film screenings and street actions to public debates and dialogues with the different government bodies.
Annually, the campaign was organised in 10 countries, in 11 cities, by more than 20 organisations and 200 volunteers, through more than 40 activities, reaching up to half a million people through variety of action, public and social media.
For the launch of the Global Day of Action, DPNSEE organised the “Kick-off event” every year to mark the start of the campaign in South East Europe.
More about the campaigns is available from DPNSEE webpage following links to pages for 2017>>>, 2018>>>, 2019>>>, 2020>>>, 2021>>>, 2022>>> and 2023>>>.
The Drug Policy Network South East Europe (DPNSEE) launched the project “Budget Advocacy and Monitoring in countries of South East Europe”. The Open Society Foundations and the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association provided support to the project implementation.
Since 2017, the Drug Policy Network South East Europe works with its member organisations from Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia on budget advocacy and monitoring. In December 2017, a training on the issue was organised for 11 participants coming from six harm reduction civil society organisations from the three countries.
The aim of the project is to support civil society advocacy for domestic investments in harm reduction in Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. Objectives include:
- Capacity building of NGOs active in Harm reduction programs through the technical assistance in field of budget advocacy.
- Budget analysis, monitoring and advocacy of budget implementation and allocation for harm reduction.
The civil society organisations from the three countries, engaged on harm reduction, public finances and public policies on local, regional and national level will benefit from the project. Indirect beneficiaries are communities of people who use drugs in the three countries who will have a sustained access to harm reduction services.
The project will be implemented in the period June 2018 – April 2019. We expect to achieve following outcomes:
- Three country budget analysis with identified sources for harm reduction produced and used in advocacy / distributed.
- A regional summary of the country analysis produced and distributed/used in advocacy.
- Three national trainings and one regional workshop conducted.
- Mapping of national stakeholders with diverse skills and interests in harm reduction budget monitoring and advocacy in the three countries done.
- Selection of three national consultancy teams.
- Three national plans of action for budget analysis, monitoring and advocacy including terms of reference for budget analysis developed.
- Budget advocacy conducted in the three countries in line with the national plans of action.
- Regional support is tailored to country needs, proactive and timely to country monitoring and advocacy wor.k
Partner organisations in countries will include leading DPNSEE member organisations in the area of harm reduction in the countries: Margina in Bosnia Herzegovina, Juventas in Montenegro and Prevent in Serbia.
The training were delivered by HOPS – Healthy Options and The Association for Emancipation and ESE – Solidarity and Equality of Women, the two experienced organisations from Skopje, Republic of Northern Macedonia.
The success of this project would be transferred to other countries in the region in the future and serve as the basis for a larger regional project.
Project work plan
The project work plan is available following this link>>>
News about the project
The overall purpose of the project was to ensure stronger participation of SEE representatives in the European Harm Reduction Conference. Specific objectives of the project included:
- Improve and extend partnerships in South East Europe
- Provide organizational and logistic support to SEE representatives at the Conference
- Organize a SEE side-event before EuroHRC
- Support linking of the SEE participants with various networks, EU agencies etc.
- Envisage and agree on models of long term co-operation in the region.
DPNSEE supported both logistically and content-wise participation of 35 representatives of 10 countries of South East Europe and the Conference and organised a successful pre-Conference regional meeting.
Aim of this project was to document the acute funding crisis facing harm reduction services in Balkan states and South-East Europe, with the aim of influencing the policies and actions of the Global Fund and other donors. The project lead was the International Drug Policy Consortium. The project was supported by the Open Society Foundations.
Drug Policy Network South East Europe was partner in the project, with the role to implement one of the three main parts: The identification and documentation of case studies of opioid substitution therapy stock-outs or shortages, service closures or reductions in coverage, and other critical issues experienced by civil society partners across South-East Europe related to transitions away from Global Fund support.
Through interviews with key stakeholders and desk-based research, DPNSEE gathered information, experiences, feedback and recommendations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. The material was collected in November – December 2017.
The outcome of the project was published the document Addressing the acute funding crisis facing harm reduction services in South-East Europe. It was presented during the South East Europe Meeting held in Bucharest on 20 November 2018, prior to the 4th European Harm Reduction Conference.
The document is available following this link>>>
