The first meeting of the Board of the Drug Policy Network South East Europe was held on 20 and 21 March 2017 in the DPNSEE Office and the Library of the House of Human Rights in Belgrade, Serbia. It was an opportunity for the new start of the Board after the changes in the composition made at the last General Assembly held in November 2016. All the Board members participated, and Staff including two volunteers joined for some parts of the meeting.
The Board adopted the DPNSEE Annual statement, the minutes from the recent General Assembly and the Board meeting and the Report for period December 2016 – March 2017 proposed by the Staff. Board also discussed the Operational plan for 2017 and forthcoming events and activities.
The Board discussed the fundraising strategy, membership fees payments, reimbursement procedures, capacity building (training), volunteers’ work on resource pool and glossary, website, Expert committee and DPNSEE Strategy 2016 – 2019.
The Working Group of the Ministry of Health of Serbia proposed changes to the Law on Psychoactive Controlled Substances. This law has long been announced, as part of the obligations that Serbia has in the process of accession to the European Union, specifically covered by Chapter 24 of the negotiations. The draft is disappointing and restricting instead of proposing active and modern solutions. The public debate was badly prepared and led, with not proper timely information and draft being publicly shared after the debate started.
DPNSEE and its member organisations, together with a few other interested civil society organisations, communicated, met and prepared a comprehensive set of comments that were sent to the Ministry. We also held a press conference and were guests on three TV stations and national radio, and the news about the proposals we made was also in other electronic and social media. The cooperation with partner organisations was very fruitful, and can be a good basis for future partnerships and actions.
On the 22nd February Dana Beal, an American social and political activist, best known for his efforts to legalize marijuana and to promote the benefits of Ibogaine as an addiction treatment, visited office of DPNSEE. The main topics discussed was use of Ibogain in treatment off the addiction but also Parkinson disease. Through the discussion Dana presented the ibogain as the only substance-abuse treatment that regenerates neuron damaged by drugs and several other benefits of it, underlining that there is no potential for abuse of it.
We discussed the issue of difficulties for introducing this treatment in Serbia, since the Ibogaine is being on the list of Illicit and controlled substances in Republic of Serbia as psychotropic substance that can cause severe damage of the health of the people. The discussion led to explanation that the certain private clinic in Serbia that treat addictions are using the Ibogaine method as a treatment. We closely looked at the law and what concluded that there is inconsistencies in the interpretations of the law that gives space for the treatment.
Mreža za politike prema drogama otvara dva volonterka mesta u okviru projekta “Jačanje kapaciteta nevladinih organizacija i promocija politike prema drogama u jugoistočnoj Evropi koja je zasnovana na javnom zdravlju i ljudskim pravima”, finansiranim od strane EU.
U okviru ovogodišnjeg volonterskog programa DPNSEE će angažovati volontere kratkoročno na dve pozicije. Profili volontera nisu strogo određeni ali bi bilo poželjno da se prijavite ako ste student (ili svršeni student) humanističkih, organizacionih, socijalnih ili političkih nauka, prava ili medicine. Obavezno je znanje engleskog jezika, a znanje drugih jezika regione je prednost
Trajanje volonterskog staža neće biti duže od 3 meseca, a obim poslova podrazumeva angažman od 10 do 12 sati nedeljno.
Ova mogućnost volontiranja prilika je za sticanje znanja, veština i iskustava u oblasti politike prema drogama zasnovanje na principima ljudskih prava i javnog zdravlja, ne samo u Sbiji već u regionu jugoistočne Evrope. Na taj način aktivno se uključuje u društvene procese i razvoj humanijeg i ravnopravnijeg demokratskog društva jednakih mogućnosti.
Volonter/ka 1: Izrada Rečnika pojmova
Rečnik pojmova (glossary) će biti abecedni spisak termina koji se koriste u oblasti politike prema drogama, sa definicijama. On će sadržati objašnjenja pojmova i termina koji se koriste kada se govori o droge ali i drugim bliskim oblastima i sličnim pitanjima.
Rečnik treba da služi pre svega organizacijama članicama tako što će pomoći u procesu usklađivanja mišljenja i stavova. Nadalje, ovaj materijal će koristiti širi spektar grupa ljudi, uključujući donosioce odluka, kreatore politika, interesnih grupa, aktivista, medija, policije, sudstva i druge.
U toku marta i aprila 2017. godine, očekujemo da se volonter/ka angažuje na sakupljanju i popisu termina u prvoj etapi formiranja rečnika.
Volonter/ka 2: Uspostavljanje Resursnog centra
Resursni centar Mreže za politike prema drogama Jugoistočne Evrope će imati ulogu da služi zajednici organizacija građanskog društva Jugoistočne Evrope. On ima za cilj da poboljša rad, omogući i doprinese razmeni informacija, resursa i iskustava između nevladinih organizacija, njihovih partnera i lokalnih organizacija, dodatno obezbeđuje korisne obuke, praktične informacije i usluge. Ona takođe ima za cilj da ojača odnose i unapredi dijalog između nevladinih organizacija i drugih aktera, u oblastima vezanim za politike prema drogama, ljudskih prava i javnog zdravlja.
U toku marta i aprila 2017. godine, očekujemo da se volonter/ka angažuje na sakupljanju podataka za kreiranje baze u oblasti politike prema drogama, ljudskih prava i javnog zdravlja u jugoistočnoj Evropi.
Volonterima će biti obezbeđeno:
· uslovi za rad u kancelariji Mreže
· refundaciji mesečnih troškova prevoza
· učešće na treningu iz oblasti politike prema drogama koji Mreža organizuje krajem aprila
· potvrda o obavljenom volontiranju
Početak volonterskog staža planiran je za 1. mart 2017. godine.
Prijave slati na elektronsku adresu office@dpnsee.org do 24. februara 2017. godine. Prijava treba da sadrži kratko motivaciono pismo (do 200 reči) i biografiju kandidata.
Najuspešniji kandidati biće pozvani na intervju koji će biti održan 28. februara u prostorijama Mreže za politike prema drogama u jugoistočlnoj Evropi, Dr Aleksandra Kostića 14/6, u Beogradu.
In Belgrade, on 26 December 2016, almost secretly, public debate on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on psychoactive controlled substances was organised by Working Group of the Ministry of Health. This law has long been announced, as part of the obligations that Serbia has in the process of accession to the European Union, specifically covered by Chapter 24 of the negotiations.
The Ministry of Health, in consultations with various relevant institutions, hopes that the amendments will result in better organization and quality of work of all ministries involved: health, education, internal affairs, labour, defence, youth and sport, culture, justice, agriculture, public administration and local self-government, finance (customs), as well as numerous organizations, institutes competent for public health and other interested organizations.
The discussion was not organized in the right manner, whatsoever. On the one hand the event involved a number of members of the working group for drafting the document. It was attended by several members of various patient organizations and organizations fighting for legalization of cannabis for medical purposes. Their aggressive discussions largely focused the discussion to the issue of cannabis. Several other participants, including DPNSEE representatives, insisted on a holistic approach, but we remained the minority. Also, DPNSEE asked that the drafts of accompanying documents should also be made available to the public (medical and other protocols, etc.).
Presentations and discussions on the proposed draft law will be further organised and in:
• Novi Sad, 10 January 2017, from 10:00 to 14:00 pm in the great hall of the Assembly of AP Vojvodina, the official entrance, Banovinski passage, Novi Sad;
• Kragujevac, 18 January 2017, from 10:00 to 13:00 pm in Assembly Hall of the City of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Trg Slobode 3
All interested citizens and professional are invited to participate in the public debate, by submitting suggestions and comments electronically to the following e-mail address: javna.rasprava.pks@zdravlje.gov.rs or in writing to the Ministry of Health, Department of Medicine and Medical assets psychoactive controlled substances and precursors, Belgrade, Nemanjina 22-26, stating: “For a public hearing on the Draft Law on amendments to the Law on psychoactive controlled substances.”
DPNSEE and member organisations Prevent and Re Generacija, in consultations with various partners, will deeply analyse the draft law, comment is and propose improvements.
Long waited visit to Turkey happened the last few days of 2016. MIlutin Milošević, Executive director DPNSEE and Thanasis Apostolou, director of Diogenis, visited Istanbul from 27 to 30 December. Unfortunately, there were no time to visit other cities, especially Gaziantep and Izmir which are known for their work in the field of addiction.
Thanks to the excellent co-operation with the Green Crescent of Turkey and the dedicated assistance of Ms Rukiye Deniz staff member responsible for foreign affairs we set up a programme for 3 days. We also got support from the TACSO Turkey team in establishing contacts with few local civil society organisations.
DPNSEE and Diogenis representatives with Mr. Gökhan Dinç
Our first meeting was with Mr. Gökhan Dinç director of Project department of the Green Crescent. This organisation has a leading role in Drug Policy making in the country and has 40 branches (even outside of Turkey) and 101 representative agencies in Turkey, engaging more than 30.000 volunteers. Drug issue came high on the list of priorities since 2014 when the new Strategy and Action Plan were adopted.
Treatment of addiction is a responsibility of the ministry of health and is provided through the Alcohol-Substance Addiction Research, Therapy and Education Centres (AMATEMs) and psychiatric clinics of public hospitals. Opioid substitution treatment (OST) exist since 2010. Harm reduction services are non-existent, but they claim that if the numbers keep growing, they will turn more to harm reduction services.
Drug possession is crime. Those who violated the law can choose to go to prison or treatment. In 2014, number of imprisoned persons in Turkey was 167.308, and estimation for 2016 are that it will raise to more than 180.000 people. Green Crescent advocates that possession will no longer be a crime.
AMATAM creative workshop
In one of the Amatams, we met with Dr. Rabia Bilici explained that they are treating in their centre a variety of patients: children, adolescents and adults. Opiate users are often probation clients. Staff includes doctors, psychologists, nurses, social workers, professional orientation, all equally involved in work. They use suboxone in their treatments.
The Counselling centre (YEDAM) is a Green Crescent institution in a neighbourhood of Istanbul. The centre provides information and social and psychological support to individuals and families who face problems with alcohol and drugs. The centre is a new established institution that started working in 2015. A second centre was opened in 2016. Ms Gülsüm Melike Şimşek director of the centre informed us about their work. The centre fulfills an essential task in preventive and protecting services. The modern facilities of the centre, the information leaflets and the professional approach to drug use and addiction make a very good impression.
BEMEV (Bağımlılığı Engelleme Mücadele ve Eğitim Vakfı) is an initiative of scholars and professionals in the field of Alcohol and drugs who are working as volunteers for the aims of the foundation. The foundation is focusing on preventive activities, organises lectures and open public discussions, publishes brochures with information and is advocating for a consistent national strategy. Their main concern is the youth. They are promoting the idea that education about addictive substances in schools is necessary and contributes essentially in preventing young people to use drugs.
We had an interesting discussion with a number of young men and women of the Narcotics Anonymous group in Istanbul. NA have 18 different meeting points in the city. They pointed out that one of the main problems they face is the communication with the police and the bad experience they have with police approach of drug users. Another important issue that they face is the lack of recognition of their group by the responsible authorities; they have ideas how to deal with addiction, but are not consulted. They stressed the importance of the self- support, the free choice and the personal responsibility of their members.
BAYEV started in 2014 as a rehabilitation initiative in one of the municipalities of Istanbul. We met in their office with Ms Nurşah Alagöz and a staff member. They are helping people with drug addiction problems. In our discussion, they pointed out that the issue of drug use and addiction is only recently recognized as a social problem. They claim that 600 people died from overdose in 2016 and that number of users raised to 2 million. Drugs are problem of the young generation.
With young activists of Bayder
BAYDER is an organisation that conducts faith-based prevention and rehabilitation activities. We met with Dr Mustafa Kemal Özsoy the leader of the organisation and had afterwards a discussion with the coordinator of the project and members of the group that is in treatment. The initiative started 3 years ago. The treatment they receive is free and strongly based on mutual support and the good relationship with the family. The recovery program is an essential part of the activities.
The Human resource and development Foundation is a leading non-profit, non- governmental organization in Turkey established in 1988. The aim of the foundation is to promote reproductive health and family planning education, information, training and services as well as the empowerment of the human resource. They have, during the past period, developed and implemented projects including Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS. The attitude of the Turkish government towards the work in the field of STI’s, HIV and AIDS is rather reserved. The National HIV Committee haven’t had a meeting for 8 years! Turkey has transitioned from Global Fund support to a government-supported program. Number of infected grows – in 2015 there were 2.500 new cases registered. Unfortunately the Human resource and development Foundation is not any more involved in the field, of HIV/AIDS and drugs, but is open to contacts with our organisations and willing to help with advice where they can.
Social Policies, Gender Sexual orientation studies Association (SPoD) is a national non-governmental LGBT organization in Turkey, founded in 2011. The Association works for equality and human rights (economic, legal, political) for LGBT people. Although the Association does refer to drugs as an area of their work we met with Neçip Varan who is very well informed about drugs, drug dependence and Harm reduction. Naçip has a rich experience in the field of drugs due to work that he has done in several countries. Drugs and HIV/AIDS is also an issue in the LGBT population and SPoD is interested in this this field. SPoD participates in the regional project of the EU that is developing and implementing a similar initiative of co-operation of organisations in SEE like our Drug Policy Network SEE.
The visit of December was a good start of our relationship with Turkish institutions and non-governmental organisation. These were three very interesting days establishing contacts and speaking with people with whom we can co-operate in the future.
Delegation of the Drug Policy Network South East Europe visited Macedonia on 21 to 22 December 2016. It was one of the final visits in the region in this year in an attempt to understand the situation and meet with a variety of stakeholders in drug policy in the country.
The delegation of the Network included Chairperson Tijana Žegura and Executive Director Milutin Milošević. We were accompanied by Thanasis Apostolou, DPNSEE founding Chairman and Director of Diogenis who presented the drug law reform initiatives.
Creative workshop in the HOPS drop-in centre
DPNSEE member organisation HOPS was host for the visit. This very active and widely involved in social issues organisation presented their work, including the drop-in centre. The staff, both in the office and the drop-in, showed the variety of projects and support services.
The Methadone centre in the Karpoš municipality serves users in modern and fully equipped new premises. We had an informative and very open exchange with Dr Darko Kostovski.
Exchange in the NGO Coalition for health and sexual rights of marginalized community
Irena Cvetkovik of the NGO Coalition for health and sexual rights of marginalised community informed us about their activities, including their struggle to ensure fair and human treatment of police, especially the special Skopje brigade. The Coalition expressed their will to become DPNSEE member organisation!
Meeting with Dragi Celevski from the Office of the Ombudsman gave a quality insight into the work of this institution which for almost 20 years cares about respecting human rights in the country.
City of Skopje has an array of activities in supporting people affected by drugs which were presented during the meeting with Eleonora Nikolovska, the Coordinator of Office for Health, Social and Child protection.
An exchange with our good and lasting partner Dr Liljana Ignjatova, the National drug coordinator, completed the picture of the efforts taken in the country.
Finally, the delegation had an informative exchange with Hristijan Jankuloski, Chairman and Ana Filipovska, secretary of the Country Coordination Mechanism for Global Fund projects.
Even thought shortages in the proposed budget for 2017 and expected closing of the Global Fund projects are threatening future, we hope that lively and active CSO scene will fin their way in providing support to affected.
The FYRO Macedonia Country Coordinating Mechanism hosted the South East Europe High Level HIV
Regional Meeting on 1 and 2 December 2016 in Skopje in partnership with local NGOs H.E.R.A. and
Stronger Together and supported by AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
The objective of the meeting was to establish a regional platform in South East Europe from countries that
are receiving and transiting from Global Fund to advocate for HIV sustainability beyond Global Fund
projects both at national and regional level. Countries in the South East Europe expected to be part of the
regional platform are: Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bulgaria
and Romania. Representatives of all these countries participated except Albania.
Besides country representatives, participants at the meeting included Vice-Chair and two Board members
and Focal Points of the Global Fund, representatives of the Open Society Foundations from New York and
local, several international organisations operating in the country (UNFPS, USAID, WHO, UNICEF), HIV and tuberculosis unit in the national Ministry of Health and local NGOs.
This was the first regional meeting of the CCM representatives. It was initiated to coordinate actions in a
very difficult situation when South East Europe is the only region which haven’t EECA region didn’t meet the Millennium Development Goal 6 related to HIV/AIDS. Question hard to answer is: Is it possible to end the HIV epidemic in SEE countries with current domestic and international investments? That is why the
Government investments of in HIV response and funding CSOs programs for key populations are important but not enough.
The Global Fund has 272 million USD for multi-country actions and 50 million USD for fighting HIV in
countries in transition. The decision on funding the projects in the next three years will be announced on 15 December!
The Open Society Foundations created their Safety Net mechanism for safeguarding services for key
population in countries where Global Fund is not providing funds any more. From actions eligible for these
funds, advocacy and accreditation are especially interesting for DPNSEE.
The meeting once again emphasized involvement of community and civil society organization in the HIV
regional dialogue. Unfortunately, there were no high level governmental representatives although it was
the idea of the organisers.
Working part of the meeting was dedicated to formulating the SEE Regional Coordinating Mechanism
Governance Manuel: Mission, common goals, objectives and outcomes, members, regional meetings,
activities as part of the 2017 working plan. It is important to underline that the RCM does not seek to
duplicate or over-ride the national authority of any CCMs or similar national bodies. Rather, through good
coordination among different regional stakeholders, it can and will amplify the work of national CCMs.
The participants agreed to delegate to Macedonian CCM responsibility to confirm all the members of RCM,
and complete the full draft of the Governance Manual by 31 January 2017. Permanent RCM Secretariat
office will be established by the RCM on the basis of an open, transparent and competitive process.
Besides the Executive Director, DPNSEE had several member organisations in the national delegations:
Viktorija from Bosnia Herzegovina, HOPS from FYRO Macedonia, Cazas and Juventas from Montenegro and ARAS from Romania. We had a good exchange and cooperated well when discussing the proposals.
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!
German – Serbian Chamber of Commerce (Deutsch-Serbischen Wirtschaftskammer http://serbien.ahk.de/), in cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (http://www.pks.rs/) organised the second multi congress Serbian Visions on 26 and 27 November 2016 at the hotel Radisson Blu Old Mill in Belgrade. The aim of organizing the only multi was strengthening the role of civilian movements within the country as well as creating more favourable economic environment by emphasizing important country-development activities.
The event encompassed 60 two hour long sessions on a number of topics: human rights issues, economics,
education, culture, health care, environmental protection, the EU integrations, security, innovations and
other programs which represent a vision of better future for Serbia. Session hosts were NGOs, institutes,
associations, universities and faculties, groups of professionals and companies, using different types of
presentations: discussions, forums, presentations, workshops, seminars, movies, etc.
Drug Policy Network South East Europe hosted the session on “Sustainability of support services to drug
users”. DPNSEE Board members Denis Dedajić and Saša Mijović, together with the Executive Director
Milutin Milošević, presented the situation in Serbia and the region and also some ideas for action that can
help make the difference and ensure regular and comprehensive services.
Although not many people participated in the session due to extremely unpopular term (Sunday at 16:00),
the discussion was very interesting and fruitful.
