Youth RISE for reducing drug related harm
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Academic papers and fact sheets
World AIDS Day: Fact Sheet
A fact sheet produced by Youth RISE, GAAP and the Central Toronto Community Health Centres for World AIDS Day, looking at harm reduction and HIV with a particular focus on Canadian youth
Youth RISE, HRI and EHRN statement to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Harm Reduction International, Eurasian Harm Reduction Network and Youth RISE recently provided the Committee on the Rights of the Child with a submission on drug use, drug dependence and the right to health under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The CRC is an international human rights treaty that sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children (under the age of 18). The CRC is also the only human rights treaty that directly refers to drugs (article 33). The Committee on the Rights of the Child is the body that monitors compliance to the convention, and issues ‘General Comments’ on specific themes or articles intended to guide interpretation of the CRC, and the committee is now in the process of drafting a General Comment on article 24 of the CRC which is about the child’s right to health.
The submission provided views on some of the normative content (underlying principles) and specific obligations relating to the right to health in the context of drug use, and when article 33 of the CRC is taken into account.
Overdose prevention fact sheet
To mark Overdose Awareness day (August 31st), Youth RISE produced a small fact-sheet about how to spot overdoses through understanding what symptoms to look out for, knowing what factors increase the chance of overdoses, how different substances lead to different types of reactions and tips for preventing future overdoses.
UN High Level Statement: Prevention, what does it take to get to zero new infections
Anita Krug, Youth RISE's International Coordinator address the UN high level meeting on HIV and AIDS to highlight how the lack of adequate provision and services for young people who use drugs is limiting the effectiveness of the global response to the HIV epidemic.
Drugs, Harm Reduction and the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child
Fact sheet produced by Youth RISE and the International Harm Reduction Association exploring the common themes associated with youth drug use including common failures in services, accuarte data, lack of youth involvement in policy and programme design.
The Conventions on the Rights of the Child as the only UN human rights article to deal with drug use are also examined showing how they should be used to enhance the rights of young people
Injecting Drug Use + HIV and AIDS: Recognising the Linkages
Fact sheet produced by Youth RISE and the World AIDS campaign highlighting: the linages between the HIV / AIDS epidmic and injecting drug use, Harm reduction evidence for HIV prevention, Young people and injecting drug use
Implementing Harm Reduction for Heroin Users in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has suffered decades of war, occupation and unrest. It is also the world’s greatest producer of opium and drug production and trafficking account for a third of the total Afghan economy. Currently alongside the “War on Terrorism”, the control and eradication of opium production and related trafficking is a main concern of the international community. However, this focus on supply reduction has meant scant attention has been paid to increasing drug use problems within the country; it is estimated there are up to 25,000 opium users and 20,000 heroin users in Kabul city. Drug use is often a response to war, poverty and under-development, however, street opium and heroin manufactured in the country are widely available, affordable and of high purity. This paper documents the efforts of non-governmental organisations to promote and develop harm reduction and treatment services for problem drug users in Afghanistan in this difficult context
Young People and Drugs: The next generation of Harm Reduction
Globally, young people under 25 accounted for an estimated 45% of all new HIV infections in 2007. Across the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region as many as 25% of injecting drug users (IDUs) are younger than 20. The Eurasian Harm Reduction assessment of young peoples’ (under 25) drug use, risk behaviours and service availability and accessibility confirms, young people at risk of injecting, or those already experimenting with injecting drugs, find themselves isolated from health and prevention services, which increases the risks for health and social harms, while the approach towards young peoples’ use rely heavily on law enforcement. Denying young drug users’ access to life-saving drug treatment and other harm reduction services contributes to the risk environment surrounding their use and violates their right to health and well-being as identified in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Governments, health care providers and harm reduction services should work together to create an environment in which young people can access needed services, including non-judgmental and low-threshold approaches offered by harm reduction programs.
