The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) approach to work with people who use drugs (PWUD) is based on the recognition of principle of greater involvement of PWUD in policy and advocacy work as well as in programs and services that affect their lives.
In an effort to provide skills, knowledge and capacity building support to PWUD community, we are developing programs which help PWUD to become experts and take leadership in advocacy on national, regional and international levels for better policies and services which correspond to their needs.
EHRA Secretariat’s expertise on wide spectrum of technical assistance and community mobilization is used to produce tools and provide technical support for PWUD community to facilitate cooperation and communications on international, regional and national level between civil society, PWUD community groups and decision makers in advocacy, community led monitoring of policies, services and funding of harm reduction programs.
All the activities and programs are implemented by EHRA Secretariat in close cooperation with Association members national PWUD community networks and leading regional and international drug user networks, harm reduction and drug policy organizations – Eurasian Network of People who Use Drugs (ENPUD), European Network of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD), International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD), International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), Harm Reduction International (HRI), Youth RISE and others.
Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) is a membership-based organization. We encourage organizations and individuals from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia to review the goals and mission of the Association and consider applying for membership. Natural persons or legal entities who cannot fulfil geographical criteria for membership are welcome to become EHRA supporting members.
There are no membership fees, but members need to be committed to support the principles and approaches of harm reduction; respect and follow the Association’s regulations and decisions, including its by-laws; abide the Statute of the Association and the decisions of the bodies of the Association.
If you have questions regarding membership, please do not hesitate to contact Secretariat: members@harmreductioneurasia.org
Membership Benefits
- Basic information packages with publications in English and/or Russian may be referred to Association members in case of requests for collaboration, information, and sample materials (or to other organizations if they are not members of the Association);
- Project-related activities outsourced to members;
- Access to information about the Association’s members, including their contact details;
- Access to publications produced by the Association;
- Upon recommendation from Steering Committee Chair, Co-Chair(s), Steering Committee members, or the Secretariat, receiving reference letters to support applications for funding, scholarships, or positions/posts;
- Receiving scholarships for conferences and seminars when available;
- Receiving information on grants, scholarships, and calls for proposals;
- The right to be elected to the Association’s Steering Committee as representatives of their respective regions and/or, if relevant, as drug user community representatives;
- Access to Association mailing list and participation in information exchange with other Association members;
- Access to the Knowledge Hub on the Association website;
The possibility of being included in Association delegations and participating in international events; - Partnership in applications for funding;
- Participation in seminars, training courses and webinars;
- Assistance in shaping an advocacy strategy and organization of international advocacy campaigns on the issues of harm reduction and drug policy;
- Consultations on international, EU, CIS and national policies on the issues of harm reduction and drug policy;
- Receiving advice on potential experts, consultants, trainers and study tour sites for technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives;
- Dissemination of press releases to media.
Membership Criteria
The members of the Association may be individuals (natural persons) or all types of the institutions (legal entities);
- A natural person who has reached 18 years of age may become an individual member, and a legal entity may become an institutional member of the Association, on request if he/she/it:
a) Agrees to support the mission of the Association and follow its Statute;
b) Meet the geographical criteria (is from or works in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia);
c) Is able to communicate in one of the official languages of the Association (English and/or Russian);
3. The applicant must agree not to bring EHRA into disrepute.
Membership Application Procedure
The following procedure describes the process of becoming a member:
a) an applicant should fill in and submit electronic membership application form on the Association’s website;
b) when a legal entity is applying for membership, an official representative of the organization should send the Association an official letter via e-mail, with a signature and a stamp of the legal entity, to confirm the fact of application for membership;
c) within seven working days, the Secretariat will verify the details of the applicant and whether it complies with the membership criteria, and will prepare the application for review by the Steering Committee;
d) within 14 days, members of the Steering Committee from the region that the applicant represents will consider the application and decide whether to grant membership. Should a Steering Committee member considering the application, or one of the Steering Committee members considering the application in a region represented by two Steering Committee members, find no reason to approve the application, the application will be considered by all Steering Committee members, who need to approve it by a qualified majority;
e) no later than a month after the application is received by the Secretariat, the applicant will be informed about the decision by e-mail;
f) supporting members must meet the same criteria’s as applicants from the region and are accepted following the simplified procedures: the application form is submitted online and is approved by the Secretariat.