EHRA will invite harm reduction, drug policy experts from international, regional and national organizations, to one day meeting on new harm reduction approaches in CEECA region, which will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania on 22nd November, 2019.
Aim of the meeting – to understand how particular harm reduction services working in European countries can be introduced and promoted in CEECA region.
Objectives of the meeting:
- To discuss how to upgrade and modernize existing harm reduction services in CEECA region;
- To share best practices of harm reduction services in European countries and how they were introduced into the countries;
- To build strategic view on how innovations in harm reduction could be introduced in different CEECA countries (what legal barriers need to be overcame, what changes in standards of services need to be done, challenges for domestic or donors funding, how to train personnel, what paraphernalia need to be procured) ;
- To generate ideas for the communication messages to advocate for particular harm reduction services in CEECA
Meeting will inform relevant part of EHRA Strategy 2020-2024. After the meeting a short policy brief/guide for the communication of new harm reduction approaches will be prepared to help EHRA members in advocacy for introducing “new” harm reduction services in CEECA countries. As a result of the meeting, EHRA plans to make a “series of videos” about the “new” harm reduction services/programmes. Videos will be recorded during the presentations.
