The Global Drug Policy Index Advocacy Project

Written by Beatrix Vas, the Project Manager for the Global Drug Policy Index project.

Youth RISE participated in the creation of the Global Drug Policy Index as a member of the Harm Reduction Consortium, and acted as the lead consortium partner for onward granting to implement advocacy activities around the GDPI launch using the findings of the projects in Argentina, Costa Rica, Uganda, South Africa, and India. International working group members  of Youth RISE Carolina, Marialba, Ruby, MJ and Mayank took on key roles in the planning, design and implementation of activities in all five countries, respectively. Besides the countries that Youth RISE was taking a lead on, our IWG members actively participated in advocacy actions in other countries featured on the Index: Joana in Portugal, Beatrix in Hungary, and Sandeep and Ishwor in Nepal.

Argentina

In Argentina, a coalition of civil society organizations carried out various actions for the presentation and dissemination of the Index, including the translation and adaptation of informational and social media materials, the development of graphics and audiovisual pieces, the construction of press releases, and the organization of meetings and events, among others. The official launch of the GDPI in Argentina was held on November 29 through a live broadcast on the Youtube channel of Intercambios AC. The GDPI was also presented at the first panel of the 19th National Conference on Drug Policy, organized by Intercambios AC. The Index was one of the main axes of the table entitled Post-pandemic drug policies. A report was prepared based on the results of the Index on the Argentine case, with special emphasis on the absence of harm reduction policies and the disproportionate use of the penal system to address drug issues. This document was distributed among key political actors in the country.

Costa Rica

The Global Drug Policy Index was launched in Costa Rica thanks to the work of Latin America for Sensible Drug Policy (LPSD) and Youth RISE. Through a series of online events (information campaign on social networks and live broadcast of the GDPI results in collaboration with Familia Penitenciaria Unida, Asociación de Jóvenes Penalistas and Asociación Costarricense de Estudio e Intervención sobre Drogas). The official presentation of the Global Drug Policy Index in Costa Rica was held on December 8 in San José. More than 15 national representatives from state institutions and non-governmental organizations attended, including the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs, the Central American Network of People with HIV, the Costa Rican Federation of Harm Reduction and the National Poison Center. The space included an initial brief presentation by the co-director of Latin America for a Sensible Drug Policy and local Youth RISE representative Marialba Quesada, who introduced the regional and international work of both organizations, as well as the need to propose new paradigms for understanding drug use in the country from a full-spectrum harm reduction perspective. The virtual and face-to-face events established important relationships between the project and the organizations that interacted in the spaces. In the case of Latin America for a Sensible Drug Policy, the Costa Rican Drug Institute (IDC) included the organization in the local roundtable for the construction of the country’s new harm reduction model, allowing the drug-using population to be recognized as subjects of rights, respecting their autonomy and providing them with the necessary tools to develop a comprehensive and updated work strategy.

India

As part of the small grants activities, awareness on India’s score on GDPI among stakeholders, public health experts and the general public was accomplished.  The objective of the small grant included Online meeting with stakeholders and community members. Media coverage and interaction with the PWUD at hotspot. A discussion on 21st of December, 2021 was arranged on Zoom. It was started by considering a harm reduction strategy to improve on certain aspects. School goers/college students as well as corporations are reportedly increasing use of amphetamine and vaping, a new trend where people are experimenting with new substances. Another activity was a focused group discussion with the users at 2 of the largest hotspots in Delhi. Every participant was provided with participation fees and lunch. The objective was to map participants’ knowledge of the drug control act (NDPS) of India, and their perspectives on the indicators and results of the Index. 

South Africa

To better understand the scores of the Index across the different dimensions which made up the overall score, civil society representatives interviewed a range of people who use or used drugs, with lived-experience to humanize and provide context to South Africa’s score in the index, with the objective of producing and releasing a short video from the content of the interviews for advocacy purposes. Prior to conducting the interviews, community members (people who use drugs) were given a brief explanation of the Index, its contents and details to better guide their interviews. In Tshwane, they interviewed six people who use drugs and two experts that work with people who use drugs. In Durban, they interviewed four people who use drugs and Prof Monique Marks who is one of the directors of Belhaven, a harm reduction center in Durban. In Cape Town, they interviewed four people who use or used drugs with a diverse range of lived experiences and two experts who work in the drug policy field. The advocacy video, highlighting lessons learned from the human stories, will be launched in early 2022 along with a Human Rights Document developed by the coalition of civil society organizations implementing the activities. 

Uganda

The aim of the project in Uganda was to inform national stakeholders from organizations working in similar fields, that are in line with at least one of the dimensions of the GDPI, about what the GDPI is and how Uganda performed in the index. Activities implemented had representatives from the law enforcement specifically from the anti-narcotics department of police, health care practitioners, human rights lawyers, people who use drugs, and partner organization representatives. Partners presented a slideshow about the GDPI, what it is, why it is significant, and how Uganda performed in the GDPI. The workshop was interactive and participants asked questions throughout and commented on Uganda’s performance in each of the dimensions and indicators. There was a fruitful debate about how to improve Uganda’s score and the challenges that CSOs face in improving this score in terms of enabling policy environments, funding and resources, and understanding of the importance of harm reduction. The workshop closed with all participants answering a survey about their understanding of harm reduction and criminal justice from the perspectives and experience of their relative organizations and the clients they work with. As a result of the workshop the national stakeholders learned about the GDPI, and became oriented on how to use the GDPI website and interact with the features of it, and can now share it with their colleagues and use it in their advocacy.